Personalized Fleece Tie Blanket + 'Chemo Survival Kit'

Wow. It is March already. It's cliche, but time really does fly. Seems like you plan to do something (aka blog) and then life gets in the way and you don't get it done. And honestly, since this little blog of mine is just for fun, it isn't even in my top five in terms of priorities, so it most often gets shoved to the back burner. And that is completely fine. 

In January, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's already a more than 30-year survivor of Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph tissue.  Her prognosis is good, but if you are the praying type, prayers are MUCH appreciated. 

Me and my momma.  Isn't she beautiful?!

Most of you don't know me, but for those out there that do, you know that I am a 'do-er'. I never sit still and I am always multi-tasking.  Ask my hubby - I can't even watch TV without working on something else - which is why I can't keep up with what is going on in our favorite shows. I always have to keep busy, especially during times of stress. It is a control thing - when I am in 'control' of even the smallest things, I feel better. 

So, when my mom was diagnosed, I went into crazy 'do-er' mode, trying to help plan meals, rides, etc....anything I could do to make her life easier.  One of my good friends, Courtney, is also a breast cancer survivor, and I enlisted her help in thinking of all the things my mom might need as she started chemotherapy. She listed off some great ideas, but in the back of my mind, I just wanted to do something more, something personal.  

I really wanted to make her a blanket. Ever since I can remember, my mom has always been cold. It can be 90 degrees outside and my mom will want a blanket over her legs outside.  So, I thought she might enjoy a blanket she can take with her to chemo. 

Isn't it cute?  Definitely bright & cheery!

I just did the typical fleece tie blanket (if you don't know how - there are tons of tutorials online - just Google it). I've made literally dozens of these for my family and friends over the years.  

I like to make them really long (3 yards) so you have plenty of blanket at the bottom to tuck underneath your toes. :)

It is really long....it's folded several times in this photo.

It is bright and cheery, but also practical. But I still wanted it to be more.  

So...with my trusty Silhouette, I decided it would be neat to have the signatures of all of her immediate family members on the blanket so she would always have the six of us with her at all times during her treatment. 

I had each person sign a sheet of paper - my Dad, my brother, my hubby, and my daughter, who also signed my 18-month old son's name.  I scanned that sheet into the computer and traced it in the silhouette software. I thin printed it out on white heat transfer vinyl and adhered to the blanket. 

This is the result:

I put it at the top of the blanket so it would be closest to her heart. 

It might be cheesy - but I think my mom was pretty happy about it. 

In addition to the blanket, I made her a 'chemo survival kit', filled with items she might need during those visits.  I put these all in one of those awesome Thirty-One bags with all the pockets. 

• Chapstick
• Hard candy
• Cough drops
• Hand sanitizer
• Hand lotion
• Blank thank you notes
• Pen and paper
• Journal
• Photo of her family
• Bottled water
• Crackers

In the bag, she can also include a book and magazines, even her computer. 

No I am not endorsed by Thirty-One, I just really like their bags. :)

Any cancer survivors or caregivers out there?  What items were helpful to you during your treatment? Mom has just one chemo treatment down and many to go, so I'd love to hear what was important to you during that time!


Linking up to:  Sugar Bee Crafts: Take A Look Tuesday, A Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project At A Time, Skip to My Lou: Made By You Monday, Scattered Thoughts of A Crafty Mom:  Inspiration Monday, That's What Che Said: Monday Funday, Wait Til Your Father Gets Home: Creative Connection, Mama's Got It Together: Pin It Party.

DIY Rag Quilt

When my niece was born this summer, I knew that I wanted to give her something handmade as a gift. My sister-in-law had mentioned once that she liked the look of "those rag quilts" and what a coincidence - I had recently pinned a few rag quilt tutorials on my Pinterest page! After seeing the beautiful colors my sister-in-law picked out for her nursery (a sort of teal or aqua color with pink and white accents - it is gorgeous!) I knew a quilt in those colors would be a perfect gift!

For the most part, I followed this tutorial by Poofy Cheeks. I didn't follow it completely, but it was my 'inspiration'. Check it out - her rag quilt is beautiful!

Disclaimer:  As a beginner to sewing, I am not the best with the terminology and explanation. I'm working on it though! 

I recommend making a diagram, indicating the placement of each strip.  I had five different types of flannel and I didn't want to accidentally put the wrong color on and have to take it back off. Because that's something that I would do! 

Also-I washed all of my fabrics before I started, because I knew from experience that they could run and/or shrink up a little. 

I cut my strips of fabric to be 38 long (because that was the length of the shortest fabric) and 5 inches wide. You actually loose two inches on each side of the strips due to the part that is cut up and 'ragged'. I did five strips of each of the five different pieces of fabric.

You put the backsides of two pieces of fabric together and sew one inch in.  This gives you your 'flap' between each piece that will be cut into little strips and 'ragged'.

Little Miss wanted to help me sew! Please ignore my needs-to-be-organized craft area!

This quilt took me quite a while to make, especially since I am such a beginning sewer. However, it was the perfect first big project for me because it was very forgiving if the seams weren't perfectly straight, due to the 'rag' part of the quilt.  I had only previously sewn some curtains, a few basic Halloween costumes and some rice-filled heat packs, so this was a big step for me. 

Instead of putting two pieces back to back and both side of the blanket being made of strips, I decided to do one solid-colored piece on the back.  I thought maybe if she used it for sleeping and not just for play, that the solid part might be more comfy to lay on. I used the sort-of-flowered teal fabric for the back. 

Because the strips weren't exactly even, I had to do some 'touch up' on each side to square them up. 

The sewing part was tough (for me, anyways) but the 'ragging' part was easy. It just takes a long time to do.  The woman at the fabric store found out what I was making and directed me to a special pair of scissors that would work well for this part. I think they were these Fiskars Micro-Tip scissors. I couldn't find mine in my (messy) craft area to take a real photo of them.

You just take the part of the fabric to be cut and cut every 1/2 inch or so. Cut almost all the way to the seam.  And really - however you decide to cut it is fine, just be consistent in the distance between each cut. 

Sorry - I didn't take photos of this process!

When you are done, you need to throw your blanket in the dryer for a bit in order to make it look more 'ragged'.

And of course Hannah had to copy Mama and take her own photos of the quilt! :)

Again, sorry for the confusing directions above. I highly recommend visiting Poofy Cheeks and checking out her tutorial - much better explanation! 

And her is a photo of me meeting my beautiful niece for the first time at the hospital! Love you Baby K!

Linking up to:  The Creative Connection at Wait Til Your Father Gets Home and Sugar Bee Craft's Take-A-Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons One Project At A Time.

How to Make a Candy Bouquet

The hubby recently became a partner at work and they just made the big announcement to all the staff. We had known about it for quite a while, but they were announcing it to others for the first time last week, so I thought I would try and whip up something special for him to celebrate. I knew I didn't want to go with something traditional like a nameplate for his desk, and he's not really a flowers kind of guy - he would have said I bought them for myself.  ;)   I had seen those fruit and candy bouquets before and thought I'd give it a whirl. 

I stopped by our local Dollar General and grabbed a ton of candy in varying sizes and shapes. I didn't really know how I was going to set it up, so I bought a lot of candy (and didn't end up even using half of it).

I also grabbed an insulated cup from the summer clearance section (always a win) to use as the base. 

At first, I thought I could use some straws I had lying around (in photo above) and hot glue the straws to the candy. Wrong! The straws weren't strong enough to hold the candy up. I started looking around my craft area (aka craft mess) and saw some popsicle sticks that Hannah and I had left over from one of our many crafting adventures. Those worked much better and held the candy upright nicely.

He loves the little butterscotch candies, so I wanted to use those as the filler to keep the candy standing upright. 

I just tried to arrange the candy in a way that was pleasing to the eye. No real strategy. 

I had the shredded green paper left from a basket we received at Christmas last year. Not sure what it is called - but it looked good and added some nice color and texture.

I added the little suckers to the front to give it some more 'depth'.

And that's it!  Very easy and the hubby loved it! And it only cost a few dollars! 

I will definitely do this again! 

Anyone out there ever made a candy bouquet?  If so, please share! 

Linking up to:  Sugar Bee Craft's Take-A-Look Tuesday and A Bowl Full of Lemons One Project At A Time.