The Hermione Skirt - Perfect for Everyday Wear at Hogwarts or Hermione Granger Costume

***If you're looking for the Boutique Academia Anatomical Heart Necklace Giveaway, click here***

Just when I thought I'd come near exhausting the ideas we could do with Harry Potter, the stars aligned and the inspiration came for this fun Hermione Skirt.

And since it was this cute girl's 9th birthday, it actually got made in time for a birthday gift.  (You might remember her epic Harry Potter themed 8th Birthday here.  We don't do parties every year, so this year she just had two friends over for cupcakes after school.)

I hadn't been planning this as part of her gift, but when I saw this Peter Pan Skirt at Prudent Baby, it got me thinking I needed to make Katie a Hermione Skirt.  Scouring the web for a Hermione silhouette that was doable to cut out of freezer paper and also really recognizable as her turned up this silhouette of Hermione by fit51391 on Deviant Art which she had based off of this drawing of Hermione by Burdge on Deviant Art. So in the end, I came up with this...

You transfer the image onto the skirt by using freezer paper stenciling.  I don't have a fancy cutting machine, so I print the design onto freezer paper and cut it out by hand with a razor blade.  Then you use the freezer paper as your stencil.  For a full tutorial for how it works, you can see this post here.

Hermione walking along the hem.  I lengthened Hermione's skirt just a bit and added a wand in her hand, below the stack of books.  Especially since it's a silhouette, I felt like she needed a wand to be recognizeable.  I'd originally envisioned her wand trailing swirls of magic dust around behind her as she walked...but the skirt was turning out so cute, I chickened out.  The swirls would have been free-hand instead of freezer paper stenciled and I think it would have ruined the magic of it.  In the end, I love the little point of light sticking out of the end of her wand.

Harry Potter Valentine Printable - Dementor Relief Chocolate Bar Wrappers

Print out a few of these free chocolate bar wrappers for your favorite Harry Potter fan...or even just your favorite chocolate fan.  These will turn a regular chocolate bar into a unique Valentine's gift, Birthday gift, (or pin it and save the idea for a stocking stuffer!)

Because...seriously...who doesn't love a gift involving chocolate?!?!

These might be especially appropriate for those friends you may have who have a hard time on Valentine's Day.  It seems Dementors are our full force on Valentine's Day and seem to concentrate among those who don't have a particular Valentine with whom to celebrate.

Geeky Valentine's Day Gift Giveaway: Anatomical Heart Necklace from Boutique Academia

If you're looking for a an awesomely geeky (and also classy) Valentine's gift, I've got you covered.

I've got some awesome fun projects and new shop items to show you soon...but I don't have the pictures and details quite ready yet...SO I've got a super awesome giveaway for you today instead.

Maile from Boutique Academia is giving away one of her gorgeous Anatomical Heart Necklaces.  Boutique Academia has a lot of amazing pieces of Jewelry and other products for people who love all things geek, but this is one of my favorites.  This is a really unique spin on what is usually so cliche.  The Anatomical Heart Necklace comes in either gold or rhodium.  Plus if you go ahead and order a necklace now and end up winning the giveaway, Maile will issue you a refund, so don't wait!

Maile also has some other pieces that fit with a Valentine's theme, like this Infinity Bracelet.

Or give a bouquet that will never wilt or grow old with this Rose Petal Cells Necklace.

And perhaps not typically Valentine themed, but what better way to say "I Love You to the Moon and Back," than with this Moon Necklace?

If you're not familiar with Boutique Academia, you'll want to head over and check out out all of her other unique math, science, and geek related pieces.  This is just a sampling...

 

Fibonacci Necklace, Anatomical Heart Necklace, Digits of Pi Necklace, DNA Earrings, Moon Necklace, Neuron Earrings, Mandelbrot: Julia Set Necklace, Darwin-Evolution Necklace

And now for the giveaway!  This giveaway is open to US and International Readers.  If you live outside the US, it may not arrive in time for Valentine's Day as it can sometimes take up 6 weeks depending on the country.
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Please show my sponsors some love...

Onyx Constellation Southern Cross Necklace from Boutique Academia	Star Field Necklace from Boutique Academia	Carpe Noctem Necklace from Boutique Academia

BLOCK PARTY Link-Up: I'm a New Co-Host!

You all know I've been a Link Party junkie from the very beginning of my blogging days, so when the lovely ladies who host the Monday Block Party said they were looking for a new host, I just had to throw my name in the ring.  So, enjoy grab a button and enjoy the party, and you can look forward to it here every Monday.

It's time for another Block Party but before I get to that I want to introduce our new co-hosts! Polly from Pieces by Polly and Beth from Hungry Happenings. Thank you to all of you who submitted your names there were so many great options it was hard to pick. This sadly is Summer's last week as co-host so make sure to stop by Sumo's Sweet Stuff to give her some love.

hosted by: Making the World Cuter | Rae Gun Ramblings | Keeping It Simple | Hungry Happenings | Pieces by Polly

I, Marissa, am so excited to be your host this week. I'm in full "get ready for baby mode" with just about 1 month left until my due date. So crazy right? So I've been baby crafting up a storm. Check out my DIY Moby baby carrier (so easy, there really is no need to pay the big bucks to get a name brand one) and my maternity version of the Bess shirt.

Bird Decorations | Jewelry Holder | Left Over Fabric Ideas | Art Travel Case | Little Pouch | Hexagon Coaster | Tote Bag | Colorful Bunting

I have also been busily cleaning house. Trying to get rid of extra stuff (you may have caught my destash on Instagram) and make room for the little guy. Part of that is getting my fabric collection under control. So today I'm sharing some awesome projects to do with fabric scraps that you all have linked up!

Valentine Kids Crafts | Super Bowl Snacks | Rewards Card Keeper | Orange Blueberry Scones | I-Spy Quilt | Crock Pot Lasagna Soup And also be sure to check out some of these fabulous tutorials and recipes from our hosts! Now it’s time to link up all that great stuff! Be sure to read over the guidelines…

1. Pretty Please pin the above two images! :)
2. Link to a specific post, not your home page
3. Don’t add links to promote giveaways, other link parties or your shops
4. Visit and comment on at least 2 other links in the party
5. Don’t link posts you’ve linked before
6. This party starts Sunday @ 10pm EST and ends Friday @ midnight
7. By entering a link, you give us permission to feature an image on our blogs. Proper credit and links will always be given.
8. Please use our button to tell people you joined our little block party!

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If the linky isn’t working, please click HERE!

I Spy ... Monkey Business Quilt

Here's a really fun Monkey themed I-Spy Quilt that was really easy to throw together.  I'd had it planned for ages, and it's finally done.

Patty from You Keep Me in Stitches is one of my amazing sponsors.  She has been super generous in donating fabric for me to sew into quilts for Seattle Children's Hospital.  (Seriously, I'm not even sure how many surprise packets of fabric goodness have shown up as a surprise in my mailbox.)  Several months ago...or rather even longer ago that than, she sent me a yard of these fun yellow bananas.

From then on, I saved any Monkey I-Spy squares that came my way through my many I-Spy swaps, thinking it would be be to do a monkey I-Spy.  (If you're not familiar with I-Spy Quilts, each square has a different picture on them, and you generally get the squares as parts of I-Spy swaps.  I've hosted several swaps in the past, and will be doing one again soon.  If you'd like to be notified of the next one, you can go here and fill out the form at the bottom of the post or I have a couple of extra sets of I-Spy squares listed for sale in my shop here.)  I also picked up an end of bolt piece of Funky Monkey fabric from Sisters and Quilters' sale section.

Giant Polka Dot Quilt

This quilt was a lot of fun to put together.  It's always awesome to sew a quilt for someone when you KNOW they are going to be super excited for it...and this was one of those quilts.  (Disclaimer: Quilt Sandwich Fabrics is one of my awesome sponsors, and they provided the backing fabric as part of their sponsorship fee.  However, I was not compensated for writing this post and all opinions are 100% my own.)

I've had the fabric for quite a while, and finally decided that Christmas was going to be my deadline to get it done.

YEARS ago...over 7 to be exact...my sister Kendra had a baby girl named Abbi who spit up a LOT.  So I went to Joanns and bought a couple yards of pink multi-colored polka dot flannel on clearance and sewed up a bajillion of these burp clothes (yes, that's a link to my very first blog post...a tutorial for how to make them.)  Okay, I think I made more like 20 of them, but they were all the same and Abbi nearly always had one with her, because she spit up so much.  Then she became attached to them as a comfort item, because they were always with her, and they became dubbed "Polka Blankies."

DIY Dragon Army Shirts - Ender's Game Shirts

Do you have any Ender's Game fans at your house?  I've loved Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (affiliate link) for years.  It's definitely my favorite in the series, and the Shadow books are my favorite sequels (affiliate link) to Ender's Game.  So I was really excited for the movie to come out.  In fact, it's the first movie I'd seen in the theater in YEARS.  We just don't go see movies all that often.  The movie was good...but of course the book is better.  I have yet to see a movie version of a great book that was as good as the book.  But, I digress...

As much as I like Ender's Game, my brother is an even bigger fan.  So much so, that he named his son Ender...for reals.  I thought it would be fun to make my brother and nephew some Dragon Army shirts...

...and as long as I was making shirts for them, I went ahead and made some for my boys, plus an extra one for a bloggy friend who also loves Ender's Game.

Gifting Fabric + 20% off Code for You Keep Me in Stitches

This year one of my go-to gifts were fabric bundles either on their own or with a copy of my sister's new book Simple Sewing: 30 Fast and Easy Project for Beginners (affiliate link).

In several cases, I worked off a color scheme I knew the recipient liked and just pulled some fun prints from my stash.

And in other cases, it was a bona fide fabric bundle.  Patty from You Keep Me in Stitches had sent me this gorgeous bundle by Adorn It a few months ago.

I'd been admiring it and trying to decide on the perfect project to go with it.  And then as I was trying to pull fabrics for a gift to my sister-in-law Candace, the ones I was finding in my stash just didn't seem right and the fabrics weren't meshing well.  Fabrics for Candace needed the right mix of classic and classy.  Every time I walked past this bundle, I just kept thinking it would be perfect for Candace.

Then I opened the bundle up to get a closer look at what was inside.  I fell in love even more.  (Okay...I'll be honest...I thought about keeping a few of the fat quarters for myself...but in the end, I just couldn't break up the bundle.)  So off the fat quarters went to Candace...because it always more fun learning to sew when you have pretty fabrics to sew with.  And being me...I had to throw in a little bundle of I-Spy Squares to making bean bags with.

And she also got a copy of Simple Sewing: 30 Fast and Easy Project for Beginners by Katie Lewis. (affiliate link)

And if you're looking for some pretty fabric for a gift...or as a gift to yourself, Patty at You Keep Me in Stitches has a great sale going on.  You can use the code "newyear20" to get 20% off your entire order on both her You Keep Me in Stitches and Granma's Treasures stores through the end of January 2014.  (They each have a different fabric selection so make sure to check out both.)

Granddad's Memory Quilts

I've seen several beautiful memory quilts lately on different blogs.  So when my Granddad passed away, after everyone had asked for things that were special to them, I asked to have the shirts that were left.

They'd been sitting in a bag in the corner of my bedroom for months, and I decided that they really should get made into quilts for Christmas.  (Sometime around October, I was congratulating myself that I wasn't really making many gifts, so it wouldn't be too crazy leading up to Christmas.  Like remember that Christmas 2 years ago when all three of our kids got a new quilt for Christmas?  Crazy.  Christmas would be nothing like that....and then I remembered these quilts and another one for my niece...and I ended up making 4 quilts as Christmas gifts.)

Anyway...when I started making the Sock Snowmen I figured I really should cut the shirts into squares before taking scraps for the snowmen scarves.  I didn't want to run short of fabric for the quilts.  While I loved making the quilts, I will say that cutting squares out from shirts is a pain...each one has to be individually cut.

Star and Nativity Appliques - Nativity in the Trees Quilt-Along - Lesson 6

Yeah!  We're almost done with our quilt tops.  Now we just need to add our Christmas Star an Nativity scene.

Uh...and can I just say...I feel really bad this didn't get posted earlier.  I had it all written up 2 weeks ago...like completely written.  It just needed the links to the templates which I totally forgot to do.  I'll admit that I bit off a bit more than I could chew heading up to Christmas, and I apologize that finishing up these instructions was one of the things I didn't get done.  I'll admit that I didn't even get my own quilt done.  It's just needed the binding added to it for about 2 months.  Anyway...on to the instructions...

If you need to review our previous lessons, you can find them here:

Lesson 1 - Fabric Selection	Lesson 2 - Sewing Your Greens	Lesson 3 - Cutting Your Triangles
Lesson 4 - Basic Applique	Lesson 5 - Sewing Your Triangles	Lesson 6 - Advanced Machine Applique

You'll need to print out the Stable and Nativity Template from here and the Star Template from here (or you can trace directly off your computer screen) and trace onto your Heat'n Bond Lite.  You can also download and resize these pictures if you want to be able to fiddle with the sizing.  If you want the sizing to be the same that I used, click on the PDF files above.

When you trace an image onto Heat'n Bond, it will end up being a mirror image when you put it on your quilt, so keep that in mind if you want Mary or Joseph on a particular side of the stable.  Here I'm tracing with Joseph on the left so in the finished quilt, he will be on the right.