Pokemon Madness - PokeBag

It's funny how everything comes back from your childhood, I think Pokemon has probably been revived 2 times in my lifetime!  Yes, I'm old!  So my son has picked up the Pokemon bug from school and so he's collecting Pokemons and his storage was a plastic ziploc so I thought why not make him a PokeBag to catch/store his Pokemons. Side note, you can get a bunch of Pokemons at Sampeng for 100 baht and I think you get about 30 in a bag.  I think they're perfect for goodie bags and the kids love them!

So I used this tutorial for the bag and used felt but decided to sew and not glue gun it since it could stand some wear and tear.  Here's the steps if you're interested in making one too!  

1 - Use a round plate as a template and cut out white and red felt.

2 - Cut 2 sets of each red and white felt.

3 - Cut black felt and also white felt for the center button piece. 

4 - Once you have all the pieces, lay them out so you know what you have to sew.

5 - Then take your 2 halves and I used a zig zag stitch to sew them together.

6 - Then sew your middle strip onto both pieces and your center circle pieces.

7 - Now add your zipper, I used pins to make it easier to sew.

8 - Sew the other side of zipper.

9 - Then open your zipper and turn inside out and sew around the half that is still open.

10 & 11 - And we finished it with a shoulder strap, as requested from my son!

Action Shot!  Now you can catch all the Pokemons!

Ancient Egypt Day at School - Costume

I really loved making this costume, it was so colorful and fun to make.  The main dress was made from my favorite material, t-shirts!  To begin with, I always start with my planning, research and sketching.  The vision was Hathor the Goddess.  Then from that I make a shopping list so that I can get what I need and exactly what I need, otherwise I end up with some items I never use and that's a waste of money and I don't think I can store anymore craft items.

So to start, I took a used white tee and cut the sleeves and then a v-neck.  Then I got a red large t-shirt and cut a lower silhouette that was the size I needed and sewed it together with the white top.  Then I used acrylic paints to paint the designs.  I loved the gold paint so much!!!

Cute Egyptian Girl drawing by Marasop

Next, I worked on the headpiece and I used air dry clay to shape a cobra.  I used this fantastic tutorial to get an idea how to make it.  Then when that dried I used the same gold acrylic paint to paint the cobra.  

Then the neck piece, I was lucky to find the perfect gold necklace for 60 baht and then I got a bunch of different beautiful trim from Sampeng (they are about 15-80 baht/meter).  Used some felt and hot glued it to the gold necklace at the back then trimmed the felt.  Also added red felt petals on the sides for an extra flair!  

A little bling-I have a bunch of these sticker gems from Big C 20 baht shop (at the bottom floor, Rama 4) and so I hot glued them all around the necklace and the cobra head piece.  

I also found the most perfect bracelets for 5 baht each at Sampeng too!!  They were meant for this costume!  

Lastly, I got some gold organza and added an elastic collar and put some velcro to attach the collar to the sides of the neck piece.  

Walk like an Egyptian!!!!

Thainie Places: Elvira (and not the Princess of Darkness)

A lot of people always ask when and how did I get into sewing, well I started sewing about 5 years ago, just after my daughter was born.  I wanted to make Halloween costumes for her as well as other crafty projects.  I looked around and checked out Elvira's sewing center at Taisin Square (right off the Phra Khanong BTS Station).

A couple of years ago the cheapest machine was 4,000 baht but now they start at 8,000 baht, other brands in the malls are cheaper but the thing about buying Elvira is that it comes with a membership that gives you discounts off sewing supplies, a subscription to their sewing magazines (with patterns and projects) and the best thing is you can get free lessons there as much as you like, they are very happy to help, even in English --- since it's more seeing than saying anyways.  I still remember breastfeeding and then popping out to an hour sewing lesson.  Other brands are usually the same with giving lessons but at times (also when there's only one staff attending) in the malls the space is not adequate for lessons so it's nice that you can pop into here anytime.

So I suggest if you want to give sewing a try, research the machine you want and also look at your budget.  You really don't need an expensive all automated machine (even though they're really cool and easy to use), you can even bring in a project that you want to work on and test the machine out with it.  

There's also so many videos and how to's online nowadays when I didn't have the time or when I needed a refresher course on sewing different projects.  Let me know if you have any more questions, happy to help!  Happy crafting!  

Thainie Finds: Transparent Thread

Did you know about a little wonder called "invisible thread"?  It is really useful for when you do machine quilting and also using it with embroidery.  It can even create a hand stitched seam that looks really nice without actually hand stitching yourself---when machine stitching, you're top and bottom thread is a color thread and so if you pop this invisible thread in your bobbin, you can create a hand stitched seam!  Here's more info on invisible thread.  I will have to post a pic of invisible thread in action but for now I have only used it to hem some pants and also sew some shopping bags.  Another use is when you're working with a really colorful print and you don't want to use color thread to distract from the print.  Try checking it out!

Sold at most department stores in the sewing section, I got mine at Siam Paragon on the 5th floor where all the sewing/knitting supplies are.  Price 90 baht.

Thainie Tees: Costumes from T-shirts

Remember my post about t-shirt costumes, well here are some past projects I had promised to share.

From top left to bottom right.

• Nutcraker Soldiers Costume
• Nutcraker Mice Costume
• Crocodile Tee
• Pirate Costume
• Cheerleader Dresses
• Father's Day tee

Thainie Art: Paint Watercolor with Acrylics

Did you know you can paint watercolors with acrylics?  I needed to make a costume for my daughter's international day and she was representing France, so I searched the web and found a cute idea of drawing and coloring on a white tee.  I decided to draw the Eiffel Tower and trees (easy enough right?) but when it came to painting with acrylics I thought it would be too heavy but since it was acrylics, I tried watering it down to create watercolor effect.  So if you would like to try this, I recommend:

• Start with a little dab of acrylic and work the water into it and you can create an ombre effect by watering it down more.
• Do little by little, let some parts dry and layer darker or lighter colors in.
• When done, iron the tee to set the paint so that it won't bleed in the wash.

Loved how it turned out and can't wait to try it again, maybe dinosaurs???

Sew What?: Pillow Talk

 Lately, I've been crazy about pillows/throw pillows for the couch.  I had just finish doing a big red heart pillow case (you can see a small glimpse in the pic above--will try to post a better pic) after seeing a pin on Pinterest and then I saw another one with the word "hello" and it was so cutie chic that I had to add it to our couch collection!  Also they're cheaper, super easy and fast to make.

You'll need:

• Freezer paper 
• Pillow fabric or buy a ready made pillow case from IKEA (I'm using a thick cotton fabric from IKEA and stitching my own pillow case here--for a great tutorial on how to make your own pillow cases, check out MADE's for simple cases and for zippered cases check out Design Sponge's) 
• Pillow cushion, I got mine at INDEX Mall, 16"x16" for 99 baht---these pillows make great presents (another upcoming post)
• Craft paint for fabric, I'm using Martha Stewarts CRAFT Paint/Multi-Surface Metallic Acrylic Craft Paint in GOLD
• Sponge and bowl for paint
• Iron
• Hidden Zipper (if you're making a pillow case from scratch)
• Freezer paper (I'm using Reynold's)
• Cutting machine (I'm using my invaluable Cameo)

 When you have all your materials, it's time to design the stencil.  Since I was making a 16"x16" pillow and my Cameo can only cut up to 12"x12", I had to factor the pillow size by making a square box that was 16"x16" to get an idea how big the stencil will be.  

Once you have an idea how big you want your stencil to be on the pillow case then you choose the circle shape and then your font.  I'm using "Xiomara" (you can download free at dafont.com) font and then once I fixed the look of the word I used "weld".  When you're happy with your design, cut on Reynold's freezer paper or your stencil media of choice.

 

Now you're ready to iron and paint.

It has taken me lots of practice and fails (a lot) when it comes to stenciling and painting.  

 I have these tips:

• Iron with medium heat, not low or high but medium, just enough to stick the freezer paper onto the fabric but not hot enough to wrinkle and cause little creases that paint can escape and bleed out.
• Careful with edges, anytime you're ironing over/around edges, don't drag the iron, lift, wiggle and press.  Don't drag!
• Sponge paint on instead of brushing.  First put your paint into a bowl and dip your sponge in flat, then squeeze excess on the side of the bowl.  Then press and blot paint on stencil being extra careful around edges.
• Patience....I am soooo guilty of trying to remove the stencil even when the paint is still not dry.  Don't do this, be patient and let paint dry completely before removing stencil.  You will get crisper lines and hopefully no smudges.

Once you're done with painting and removing the stencil, take a scrap piece of fabric and place over the design and iron over to set the paint.

Finish sewing pillow.....REMEMBER!!!!!  Put the zipper on the bottom of your design so that it will not be visible when you have it adorned on your couch!!!!

Happy crafting!!!

Where I get my fabric...

I'm asked often where I get my fabric for my sewing and craft projects.  Well, I use to venture into Chinatown (Sampeng/Parurat) if I had the time but now that's not an option so I go to a wonderful shop on the corner of Asoke (BTS Sukhumvit Station), oppisite Terminal 21/on the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit side.  A good selection of fabrics and comparable prices. 

And if you're looking for sewing supplies (thread, zippers, buttons, yarn, etc..), just walk about 2 doors down and you'll find a nice little shop that has all your basics.  Sadly, I'm sorry I never remember the names of these shops but I've taken snaps of how the store fronts look.  Hope this helps!

Santa Sack

Our Christmas tradition for presents is that Santa's presents are not wrapped and everything else from family and friends are wrapped.  Well it's a nice surprise in the morning for the children, I just thought they would appreciate each gift more if they saw them one by one rather than it all spread out.

And so I remembered Santa Sacks that they sold at holiday fairs and thought of making my own.  It's a really easy sew and I also custom made little tags that had their name and good/bad tick areas too.  Can't wait to see their faces Christmas morning!

Polka dot and white fabric from IKEA and stripes fabric from personal stash.

Halloween: Pumpkin Costume

 Halloween is approaching and I usually try to finish the children's costumes ahead of time so that I wouldn't be pulling my hair the last week of October.  Fortunately this year, their school had requested more "Halloween" themed costumes and not the usual superhero or princess.  I'm not at all against any of those costumes (or the school) but I can honestly say my children would have never chosen a pumpkin costume if it was up to them.  So luckily they wanted pumpkins!  

What I got (2 plump pumpkin costumes for 3.5 and 5 year old):
- 3 meters of orange fabric (cotton mix)
- 1/2 meter of green fabric (cotton mix)
- 1/2 meter of green felt
- 1/2 meter of black felt
- iron on webbing
- matching threads
- elastic 

I had actually searched the web for a children's pumpkin pattern, which I found and paid $8 (240 baht) but it had printed out about 120 pages and I was lost---this pattern paper fiasco is now being recycled for my kids' artwork.  I'm just not capable of patterns!  Gave up and just took one of my daughter's dresses and put it on the fabric and pretty much drafted my own pattern.   Cut into sections and sewn them together.  I'm sorry this is not going to be a very good tutorial but I can offer the following amazing references to help guide you there as they guided me.

Making your own pattern from clothes you already have
MADE

Sewing dress and lining (applicable to this costume!)
Cool People Sew

For the pumpkin features, first take felt and iron on webbing then trace the eyes, nose and mouth, cut pieces and iron on to the pumpkin.  If you want to, I stitched over the pieces.

Leaves Pattern for felt leaves
Pink Suede Shoe 

*** Print out the leaves the size you want or you can search on the web for any kind of leaves you like and cut out green felt

Note, the lining for the plump pumpkin was a padded quilted fabric (you can get this at Fabric House) and you just sew the same as a lining.  Lastly, fold up bottom at insert elastic.

My daughter had a bit of a diva moment and decided she wanted it to be more dressy (you can take the princess dress away but you can't take the princess out of the kid), so I cut around the existing pattern (copying her dress) and just added the green cotton lining and cut the bottom zig zagged, luckily we had kept a cute black petticoat skirt that belonged to my older daughter and was able to use it under this dress.

Happy sewing!!

Put you best vest forward...

Wanted to share a wonderful tute I found.  I was searching how to make vests for my children's class line leader vests and this tute from The Mother Huddle was amazing!  Her tute was very clear and detailed, it was so easy to follow.

But if you would like to make a bigger or smaller size version, I would suggest using any size tee you want and tweaking the pattern from that.  

As for the star emblem and LEADER artwork, I used my Silhouette to cut out templates and then acrylic paints.

Have you started working on any costumes for Halloween?  Well I'm prepping tutes for a Dinosaur and Hula girl costume to share with everyone soon!

The Princess Tea Party Birthday

Of course this idea was from Pinterest, I did this the night before her birthday morning.  Only thing different was I hung the balloons outside in the living room since they always get up in the middle of the night so her room door was not going to work

Okay this is going to be the longest post ever since it's about my daughter's recent birthday party.  My now 4 year old daughter wanted to have a princess themed birthday party and so I played with the idea and thought of a Princess Tea Party theme.  This way the girls would be able to be all princessy and enjoy a nice tea party with tea cups and everything.  I secretly was delighted at the idea of throwing one too!  Although, this year I decided to do a more cozy and small party since it would be more controllable enjoyable to do crafts and activities with a small group of girls, 6 little girls to be exact (T's 3 very best girlfriends, her godmother's daughter and her friend).  Luckily, my 2 year old boy went down perfectly for his nap during the party and my 13 year old daughter was home to help!  Lastly, I set a budget of about 5,000 baht ($150+) for the party since I believe you don't have to waste money when you can diy or find it cheaper!

So here's the rundown!

The Invite...

 

First, you have to have an invite!  I found this perfect scroll online and put the details of the party as well as found a cute seal with her initial.

The font I used was Edwardian Script but after checking for the link, I found that you have to pay for it now and so I would recommend going to any free font site like dafont.com and downloading a font style you like from there. 

I then printed the artwork on A4 premium drawing paper and cut the shape out with the Silhouette.  The invites were then put into an envelope and sealed with our family's letter seal to add that royal touch!!! 

Here they are, signed, sealed and ready to be delivered to the lucky princesses:

The Birthday Banner & Streamers...

I used the Silhouette machine and cut her name and the background shapes then used 3M repositioning spray adhesive (the link actually goes to the widely used Krylon one -- in the states-- but I am using 3M since it's the only kind I can find here in Bangkok) to attach them together.  I really recommend this repositioning spray adhesive for any paper craft you are working on.  It's so easy to use, you can spray several pieces at the same time, goes on clear and you can reposition it (it's like the stickiness on the back of post its!).  After all pieces are cut and glued together, I strung them together with ribbon and then attached with some masking tape at the back so that it would position just the right way on the wall. 

The streamers were made of scrap fabric streams that were cut and then tied onto a plain old white string (the string that is used for packages).  Also great project for just decorating a room too and the perfect way to use all those scraps!!! 

The Pom-Poms

I have a confession to make, I'm a tissue paper hoarder--in addition to a hoarder of mostly all craft-related items.  I love my tissue paper collection and I couldn't bear using tons of them on the pom-poms.  And so trusty ol' IKEA came to the rescue!  I bought the colored paper napkin packs and they had the perfect colors for the party.

1) IKEA Fantastisk (don't they name their items so cool?) paper napkins, I also bought the paper plates and cups for the party there too.  

2-3) You take about 6-8 paper napkins and lay them on top of each other and then follow these directions!  But instead of the wire I used a plain rubber band (it was also great since you can stretch the rubber bands onto whatever you are decorating).    

4) Now the tricky part!  You want your pom-poms to be fluffy and airy but they just don't look like that, you have to spread the sheets since each paper napkin is 3-ply.  So carefully spread your napkins apart and fluff!  It's a learning curve but it gets easier! 

And hopefully you will get these:

The Goodie Bags and Activities Goodies...

As mentioned, I was working with a budget, luckily I found some great goodies that were perfect!  

1) The custom made royal invites.

2) All the goodies on show.  Books were from Kinokuniya (100+ baht/book), some princess pencils from The Emporium (they came is a 6 pack), notepads I had hoarded through the years, fruit chews, bracelets (also hoarded, bought them from Sampeng years ago) and a custom skirt I made with my fabric stash.

3) Princess tiaras, these were for the craft activity, I got the idea from here at Lu Bird Baby. 

4) These were also for the craft activity, they were little zipper pouches that the kids would paint in their names with metallic gold or silver acrylic paints.  You can see my tute for the stencils here.

5) This frame was a light bulb moment at IKEA!  It's the Tolsby frame and was 49 baht for each of them.  I used artwork from Lettering Delights and my trusty Silhouette to cut a hole out so that a photo could be inserted, the other side just had a message saying thank you for joining the party.

 All these goodies then went into a paper bag decorated with a doily and their name written on it.

The Activities & Crafts...

A smaller amount of kids turned out to be perfect since each one had the chance to do their own crafts.  In addition to the princess headpiece and zipper pouch, I also had the following:

-  A bracelet kit that I got at the mall (The Emporium) and it was perfect since it came with plastic bangles and gem stickers.  

-  A bunch of plastic beads and elastic to make our own royal jewels (Central B2S).

-  A wand craft made from foam clay, which dries light and airy (Central B2S) and attached to balloon sticks. *** Sadly, this craft turned out to be more of a art piece than a wand.  But the kids had so much fun making them, so did the moms!

-  "Kiss the Frog" (aka pin the tail on the donkey), I took green construction paper and cut out a frog and cut out lips and sprayed the repositioning adhesive spray so that the girls could kiss the frog while blindfolded with these cute panda eye covers I got from Cotton On (Mega Bangna).  It was a hit!  The girls had so much fun and a lot of giggles, their prize were IKEA markers!

-  Well this was a last minute activity craft that my daughter requested.  She wanted a pinata (she calls it a "pee-a-tah") and how could I say no right?  Well I was very lazy to do the whole paper mache pinata and on a budget to buy one and so I MomGyvered it.  Looked around the house and found paper plates, stapled plates together into a shape, covered it with crepe paper and liquid glue.....then thought about what that shape would be...it turned out to be a teapot for the tea party!  The lid, spout and handle were just cut out shapes, again from the Silhouette and decorated with a bit of frayed crepe paper and presto.....PEE-AH-TAH completed!

The Princess Tea Party Decor...

Paper napkin pom-poms, goodies, pee-ah-ta, streamers and everything else was ready to decorate!  I picked up some helium balloons at Pinata Party Place while out that morning picking up the birthday cake.

Threw everything together and it looked like this:

I had bought these adorable little tea cup sets from the 60 baht shop and you can see the IKEA paper cups, plates and napkins.  I also used paper napkins that I ironed out the night before for table mats.  Bought some fresh (well almost fresh day old cheaper flowers at Villa-I didn't need pre-bloom ones)  and each place setting had a place card cut from the Silhouette with each of the princess' name.

For the cake stand, I just took an over-sized cup we had and a plate and use UHU putty to hold it together.  Perfect again for the teacup/tea party theme!

The Princess Birthday Cake...

How cool did this cake turn out?  This 3D cake was ordered from S&P and was 790 baht ($26)!  You need to order about 2-3 days ahead and pick it up yourself but it was so worth it, the kids all loved it!  I then added a small decorative pom-pom, candle and tiny frog!  Can you guess the on-going theme here other than the princess theme?  Yes, Princess Tiana!!!

Last but Not Least...

My birthday princess and her Princess Tiana costume I had made for her. 

  

Well, that's it....  I'm happy to report that the party was a success but will have to decide whether I'm up for another themed party next year!  I hope you enjoyed sharing this special day with me and it will help you with your princess or prince!  Happy crafting!

Sew Thainie: Wonderful Stuff Toys Holder

 I am such a neat freak, I'm always trying to keep everything organized and I feel horrible that my children have to bare with this!  Well I usually try to go through their toys every now and then to see what they aren't really playing with or which can be donated but we have a bunch of stuff toys that we just can't part with since they each have some kind of sentimental value.  Thanks to A Lemon Squeezy Home, I was able to make this wonderful stuff toys holder/net.  Also thanks to my friend Rach for her generous jersey fabric too!!! 

*** Just be on the look out once you put this up, my daughter has decided it is a great chair/canopy that she wants to lounge on....sorry that I don't have a pic of that.

Happy Halloween!!!

Sorry for being such a slacker, it's been a loooooong time since my last post but hope to make it up with this post filled with adorable cuteness!!!  I love holidays, especially the ones that involve costumes!  When my daughter was born about 3 years ago I took on sewing so that I can make "itty, bitty, cute" outfits for her.  I loved the "idea" of being able to create her costumes, even though I had no clue how to go about doing it.  And so the parade of Halloween costumes began.  

4 months old "Cute lil Pirate" :: this was inspired from a stripe onesie she already had and so I took an old tank top I had and repurposed  it into a little pirate skirt for her and then took the bits and pieces to make a tiny little vest to go with the outfit.  Finished it with a red sash, grocery bought hat and patented flats.  

1 year old "Sweet Strawberry" :: Still a novice sewist, I tried to do a more daring costume that would involve actual buying and cutting of materials.  This strawberry costume was a wonderful beginner's costume since it was an easy pattern to sew.  

2 years old & one more baby boy "The Tortoise & the Hare" ::  And the plot thickens, now with two babies, I had to come up with duo themed costumes!!!  It's so much fun, too bad Halloween is only one time a year.

I would love to share patterns but honestly I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and pretty much improvised from beginning to end.  I truly believe it was the hand of God that guided me!  If you would like help or the pattern, please drop me an email and I will try to help you the best I can.  Happy Halloween!!!!  

All the birds of a feather...

Did I mention my kids are crazy about the movie Rio?  It's playing almost once a day in our home and they love dancing to the songs, the soundtrack is really good.  It made me think of a project that I wanted to do and thought it was the perfect opportunity to tie it in with the movie.  

 Eri of Llevo el invierno has a diy tutorial/pattern avail­able on her site that is ahmazing!!!   I adapted her tute and tweaked it a bit.  Here's what I did:

1) I cut the 2 side wings from the same pattern and I reinforced with fusible lining (sticky side up) so that it would be easier to hold the feathers when sewing (I'm thinking that it would have been more airy if I did without it but too late...you can leave this out if you want)

2) I precut all my feather pieces, you don't have to stick with the rounded feathers, I think it would have looked just as nice with more of a pointier look.  

3) Lay your feather strips in the order you would like and iron if you did the fusible lining OR pin and sew later OR you can just use fabric glue.

4)  Since I did the fusible lining, I just kept ironing my feather strips on.

5) It's a quick project actually and there you have your wings.

6) Sew your layers of feather strips.  Again, this is optional but I wanted to reinforce mine so that my kids don't have them torn off from wearing them.

7) The inside of the wings will look like this.

And there you go, fun wings for your fun kids!!!!  Here's a pic of my daughter modeling hers.