Last month, I posted a great tutorial on how to make your own custom canvas. Quick, easy, and cheap, this project was a win in all ways. You can use whatever fabric you want, which mans you could create a look for a nursery, living room, as a gift, for the holidays...there are endless options. For my canvas, I wanted to monogram them with our family initials, A and Z. I knew I wanted to hang them somewhere around the house. This is what they started out as:
You can make your own, using this tutorial: DIY Custom Canvas
I found the letters I wanted, made them huge (full page) on Word, and then printed them out. I cut out the stencil, and then traced around the outside, in pencil, onto the canvas.
After I traced the letters, I used painters tape to tape around the letters. It was hard to tape inside the curved parts, so I just carefully painted when it came to those edges. I used black craft paint, and a small paint brush...
Then I peeled off the tape, and let the letters dry. The paint looked uneven in some places, because of the type of fabric pattern that is behind it. So I did some touch-ups here and there, because I wanted the paint to look even.
Done! You could take some sandpaper to the letters and make a weathered look if you are into distressing as well. I think these would look totally cute over a crib in the nursery or in the entry way. I made another canvas and then ended up hanging these on top of that.....I will be posting about that very soon!
), hot glue, and some string/twine/yarn (your choice). I went through my letters and spelled out words that meant something to us (our names, family names, etc). Then I used the hot glue, ran a small line down the side, and pressed the letters together. I guess you could use wood glue or other glue (maybe liquid nails) and let it dry. Hot glue seemed the easiest to me because of the quick drying factor. After I had them all glued together, I cut the twine to the length I wanted, then glued to the back in a loop. Make sure to glue the string all the way to the top of the back, because you don't want to scrabble pieces to fall forward. I actually put the string at the very bottom (on the back), and glued it all the way to the top in hopes it would be very strong. It seemed to do the trick. That's it! Done!
) as well. I cut the foam to the exact size of the top of the pallet (I used the thin wood as an outline, since it is the same size). After this, I used the thin wood to figure out where I would put my tufting buttons. I measured everything out, and spaced 11 evenly on the board. I marked where each one would go with a sharpie, and then drilled a small hole in the wood at each point. I didn't take many pictures of this process because I was on a roll and not really thinking about it.
. I really liked this brand because it came with the tool to make it, and it made it pretty easy. I read a lot of horror stories online though, about the buttons popping apart while doing the actual tufting-how frustrating. I nipped this in the bud but squirting a glob of 
into the cover before securing the back on the button (if you make them, you will see what I mean). I didn't have any buttons pop apart-thank goodness! I read a lot of tufting tutorials which helped me with the tufting and upholstering questions I had. You can see them all here:
to attach the thick foam to the wood, and then placed that on top of the batting (foam down, wood should be at the very top, facing you).
(found at Joann's or on amazon, I used the 2nd longest one), and very thick string (I used a thin cord). I did the sides first, and then the middle. I put the cord through the needle, then did a double layer (kind of like how you can to to thread when sewing), and tied a knot at the end. I tied 3-5 more knots over that knot to make a large knot that would not be able to fit through the hole I drilled into the wood. I put the needle through the wood, then poked it out the front (of the fabric). Then I strung the button onto the cord, and came back through the same hole, out the back. This was a little tricky, because you can't really see where the needle is going. I ended up putting my arm through the side and feeling where the needle needed to go. It was hard, because of the spray adhesive, but I still did it. When the needle comes out of the hole on the wood side again, then I tied more knots around the initial knot, ensuring it would not be pulled out. There are lots of methods for securing the buttons (check out the tutorials I linked above), but this is what worked best for me. I did each one, button by button, and it was very time consuming. I had my mom and then my husband (they each helped with half) make sure that when the needle poked through the fabric, the fabric was tight and not bunched up anywhere, and that the button was being pulled to the same depth as the other buttons. A couple times I had to go back and redo the buttons because they were not at the same depth (it looks silly if some are very deep, and some are not deep at all). I did this over and over until I had all eleven buttons in place.
to the bottom of the ottoman. This was probably the easiest step. I made sure they were even, because I wanted the legs lined up with one another.
Yep. You see right. $23.16 total with a savings of $26.44. This, my friends, is why I love JoAnn’s. Also, as a teacher I get a 15% discount on top of all the sales/specials. It’s amazing.
Since I was making a princess dress and not just some regular, every day, simple dress, I decided to change the original pattern a bit. I made the skirt longer by following the larger size’s bottom cut line.
This is fine. But see how the sides are slightly larger on the larger side too? Yeah. This comes in handy when your child actually wants to walk in the dress. Not that she can’t walk, but… It’s more on the restrictive side. I wasn't thinking of that, of course, I had amazing sewing skills so I knew what I was doing. BUT should you choose to follow in my footsteps, make sure you make the bottom a little wider than I did in the picture below:
Everything was cut out and ready for sewing. Enter the most amazing, fantastic, technologically advanced sewing machine ever known to humankind….
So… I lied. It’s a cheap machine, but it gets the job done when you have nothing but straight seams to sew. I’d like to add this would have been much easier to sew with a real machine, so if your machine is anything better than mine, you’ll be just fine.
I used the safety pin to thread the elastic into the neck as well. I completed the top and the skirt. NOW! The moment of truth!
I gathered the skirt’s top by doing two rows of loose stitches, pulling the threads, and arranging the gathers to fit the top. I held my breath and sewed.
IT WORKED! I was TRIUMPHANT! And realized that maybe I wasn't the amazing, all knowing seamstress I was in my mind simply because the seam on the side of the skirt is, um, not on the side of the dress. But no matter, it’s for playtime and I was sick of sewing so I left it alone. The lace on the bottom I sewed on at the same time as hemming. I don’t recommend doing this, it was a pain. Instead sew your hem, pin on the lace, and stitch it on. I did a guestimate to judge how much ribbon to use for the bodice, and did a few hand stitches on each turn of the ribbon.
It’s super cute. The kicker? My daughter, for whom I lovingly made this dress for, does not want to wear it. Like, at all. Ever. It is hanging on her door as a decoration as I type. Which, actually, is pretty cute but I wish she’d want to wear it all day every day. The only picture I could get of her wearing it is this:
Yes, it’s blurry. And yes, it’s an action shot. She doesn't hold still anymore, especially when I try to take pictures of her. Despite the bottom of the dress being restrictive, she did her best to run throughout the house in it.
to get the job done. Before reading the article, I would have thought that it would be necessary to add oil or something, to get the peanuts to turn into a creamy butter, but it's not. You don't have to add anything, which I love. The processor first grinds the peanuts up, and after a minute or so it forms a giant lump. Then, after this lump gets thrown around in there for a few minutes, it starts loosening up, and eventually turns into the creamiest peanut butter. For me, it took about 3 minutes from start to finish (but the article I read said 5 minutes, so it may vary on type of 
