Craftastic Monday & Lots of News

Welcome to this week's Craftastic Monday.  Last week our family was on vacation and while we had fun, I'm beyond ready for a normal week.  Traveling with 2 small kids & a baby is not exactly a relaxing, leisure-filled break, so it's good to be back home.  So let's start with a little housekeeping stuff, since so much has been happening while I've been away!

First,  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that CRAFT Magazine's blog featured my Princess Leia Hairdo Hat last week.  Totally unexpected and very thrilling - the post they did on my little hat got over 480 Facebook likes!  I've gotten a lot of people asking if I can do a tutorial and if I would sell them in my Etsy shop, so even though I hadn't planned to, I've decided to do both.  So look for a sewing tutorial on the Leia Hairdo Hat very soon and I've added a listing for for made-to-order Leias in my Etsy shop.

Second, last week I reached a milestone 500+ followers!  Thank you to all of you who follow my blog.  A year ago I could count on one hand how many followers I had, so this really means a lot to me.  I've even got a Sew Can Do Facebook page now, so this little blog has really grown up!  Many of you have become great blog friends and through your comments I've discovered many of your wonderful blogs, so thank you, thank you!

Third, it's time to announce the winner of last week's Sew Can Do Pattern Giveaway....

Which was:

Congratulations on winning your own copy of my Reversible Around Town Bag Pattern Set!

Now let's get to the Craftastic part of today.  Check out these little gems from last week's party:

How adorable is this boy's snake necktie? My guys would be ALL ABOUT wearing one.  AmberLou from The Paisley Cupcake has a tutorial on how to make one for the little guy in your life:

Not to leave out the little girls, check out these cute bandana whale appliques by Megan at Fowl Single Fowl.  They just look so cute & happy:

And then something for the rest of us, Katie P. over at Food, Wine & Mod Podge made some delicious homemade, stuffed pretzel bites using a recipe she found in the blogosphere, but switched it up with her own filling ideas.  Soooo tasty..........

Now it's your turn to shine!  If you've created something fun (sewing, baking, decorating, papercraft or anything else crafty), link on up! The rules are simple:

• As long as it's crafty and made by you it's Craftastic. Just add the link to your specific post (not the main page of your blog).
• Include the name of your Craftastic creation, your blog name & a pic of your project.
• Grab my party button & put it on your post or blog to share the party with everyone.
• Check out some of the other great links and share some crafty comment love.

This party is for sharing your own fun craft ideas & homemade projects (not promoting products), so please no giveaways, linking up another party, Etsy shops or online stores.

I leave the party open until 12pm EST Thursday. As usual, at the end of the week I'll be featuring some of my favorite links, so please remember to add the Craftastic party button to your post or blog so I can consider featuring your project.