Miss Captain America

Although I absolutely HATE the Walmart here, I went the other day to try to find some basic white shoes to dye.  I didn't find the shoes but I did find this cute shirt for $3.  I knew I could turn it into something for Tana.

I started by cutting off the sides of the shirt.  I measure around Tana's upper body and added a few inches to the sides.  I wanted the end product to fit loosely.  Make sure that you cut evenly on both sides so that your image is still centered.

I then cut the top as close as I could to the original neck line.

I decided to cut the sleeves from the existing sleeves.  It worked great because I could use the existing hem of the sleeve and not have to worry about trying to resew.  I cut to pieces from the sleeves at 6x12.

Using my sleeve template from this post I cut a J shape from the sides of my pieces.  Continue following the Peasant Top tutorial to finish the dress.  The only difference is I made mine into a dress instead of a shirt. 

Once I had the dress constructed, I followed this tutorial to make the elastic casing in the middle.  I measured up from the bottom and marked where I wanted the casing to be.  I chose to have the elastic sit lower on her waist as to not take away from the print.

I love how loose and comfy it is.  This dress will definitely last for a while, which makes it even better.

The diva can still move around and play doggie, which makes it a winner in her book.  To finish off the look I decided to use some of the scraps to make a little flower for her hair.  Giving her that extra little sass!

Sassy Stool

Although Tana is potty trained and has been for almost a year, she is still way too short to get onto the toilet by herself.  I was helping her with this task, but since her bladder seems to be the size of a pea, it got old quick.  I have been looking for a cute stool for their bathroom for a while but it seems that everything is bright and plastic.  Not my style! 

I didn't give up hope and finally found what I wanted at HL.  I found it in the unfinished wood section for only about $6 or $7.  It did have a sticker on the bottom that said "for decorative use only" but I am not worried.  The thing is sturdy and can withstand my two-year-old's weight. 

I gave it several coats of white spray paint, making sure to sand a little in between.  When I have the coverage that I wanted I became a little more liberal with my sanding.  After distressing it a bit I inked the bare wood. 



I L.O.V.E how it turned out.  Perfect for their vintage bathroom.  Added bonus: I don't have to help her... as much!



Friday I'm In Love

This baby came in the mail today.  It was definitely time for an upgrade.  My parents bought my first machine, a Singer Featherweight II, before Shawn and I got married.  It served well as my "learning machine" but now that I have improved it was time for something that could do a little more. 

I love her already.  Have I used her?  No.  But I have read the manual and she seems great.  Happy early birthday to me!

On a funnier note: 

When I picked Landon up from school today I told him that my new sewing machine came in the mail.  This is what followed:

Landon:  Is it a brother or a sister?

Me:  What?

Landon:  Is it a brother or a sister?

Me:  Landon, I don't understand what you are asking.

Landon:  You were talking on the phone the other day and said you might get a Brother sewing machine.  So, did you get the Brother or a sister?

LOVE HIM!

One Organized Princess

Aunt Nell is always sending me emails with great ideas.  I love when I see them in my inbox!  One idea in particular was sitting in my inbox for quite some time.  Sadly, I cannot for the life of me find the email with the picture.  I have also tried googling different words, but nothing!

The idea was finding decorative knobs and attaching them directly to the wall.  The image had vinyl lettering over each knob.  It really is such a cute idea, but because we have moved so many blasted times, I decided to tweak it a little.

I searched for the perfect knobs for a VERY long time and finally found them in Rexburg, ID of all places!!  I got these knobs for $2 a piece.  Beat that! 

Instead of attaching them to the wall, considering we would probably move again in a year, I wanted to make it portable.  I headed on over to Home Depot and found a piece of wood in the clearance bin.  I painted the piece hot pink and sanded down the edges a bit when dry.  Then I measured out the piece and did a little math until I found where I wanted the three knobs.  I enlisted my sister's help to drill the holes and added the knobs. 

Finally, I cut some vinyl with my Cricut and the Storybook font.  I added the vinyl with transfer paper because it makes it so incredibly easy.

Attach hanging brackets to the back and hang it up.  I hung it low enough so that Tana could have easy access to it.  And it looks great under her bow frame.

Meet Toothy

...and his sister, Toothina!  I LOVE THEM!!!

I have seen this idea on some random people's blogs.  I am assuming that they made them because I don't think I have seen anything like this to purchase.  And why would you when they cost so little to make. 

I started by printing off a picture of a tooth.  I could have drawn one myself but, alas, I am a perfectionist.  I used this as my template to cut out a front and a back piece.  With my front piece I hand stitched eyes and a mouth by doubling up my thread in my needle.  I could have used embroidary floss but did not have the colors I wanted on hand.

On the back I cut a piece of felt to fit on one of the "feet".  This will serve as a pocket for your child to place their tooth.  When the tooth fairy takes the tooth, the money can be placed in the same pocket.  This was also handstitched.

Line up your pieces, wrong sides together, and begin hand stitching your tooth closed.  When I had about 3/4 of the tooth sticthed, I began adding the stuffing.  Make sure to really get the stuffing down in the legs.  You can see that one of Toothina's legs is a little "skinny".  Finish stitching around until you reach the beginning.

You can add all sorts of embellishments.  I decided on a little hair accessory for Toothina.  You can't beat a nice hot pink and zebra combo!  I also thought (after I finished, of course) that you could hand stitch your child's name onto the back.

So many possibilities for such a small cost.  Like, literally under a dollar.  Nice!

I linked this project to http://www.alittletipsy.com/2011/08/diy-under-5-lucky-penny.html but have NO idea how to get her link button onto my post.  Help?

Noggin Covers

A friend of mine just had her first baby girl.  I remembered that Ashley made some really cute newborn hats out of knit.  Her fabric was to die for!  Her knit was quite a bit more spendy then I like, but it was extremely cute.  I found mine at HL. 

When I bought the knit I had envisioned using it to make a few circle skirts for Tana, but it didn't end up being wide enough.  I just couldn't let this cute fabric go to waste.  I am a SUCKER for zebra print.  Especially on a sweet baby girl. 

I stuck pretty close to the tutorial, except my band and hat pieces did not line up so I had to trim some off before sewing the two pieces together.  I also did not make my flower out of knit.  I used broadcloth because it is super cheap.  And I did not attach the flower directly to the hat.  I glued the flower to a pin so that it can be removed.

And since making these hats has made me realize how much I miss my little babies, I found a video of little Tana.  Such a pretty little girl, packed with a whole lot of tude!

I have no idea who the crazy lady talking in the video is.  I must have been picking up someone else's frequency when I shot this.  Please just ignore the voice.  Really... ignore it!

Now I Know My ABCs

Before we left Utah I happened into a consignment store to check out the cool, vintage merchandise. I found a few small things I liked and was about to check out when something caught my eye. Next to the counter was an old cupboard door. It was this awful off white color with streaky paint, and the middle sections were painted unevenly with chalkboard paint. But I knew it had potential.

The bad part: I have a VERY strong disliking for chalkboard. VERY STRONG!

The good part: The middle sections popped right out by unscrewing sections of the back.

I sanded everything down, spray painted the frame red, distressed, and inked. Now I had to figure out what to do with the middle sections. My first "brilliant" idea was to spray paint the existing wood pieces with magnetic spray paint. I headed out to HL, spent almost $11 on the can, came home, and got down to business. After meticulously following the directions and reading about it online I used the entire can and... NOTHING! It had very little magneticity (not a word?).  

At first I was pretty devastated, and then a little pissed off. Instead I opted for sheets of metal. It took a while to find what I wanted, at the price I wanted it for, but I prevailed. I had the sheet cut to the measurements I needed and glued them right to the back of the frame.

Lastly, I found some rope at HL sold by the yard. I drilled two holes in the top of the cupboard and strung the rope through. A simple knot at the end of each side of the rope and I had the perfect way to hang it.

The Diva loves "playing letters" and Landon uses it to spell and sound out words. Win win!

Vintage Chic

Yeah, I know.  I have been gone a L   O   N   G time, but we hit up the Gma's and Gpa's house before school starts and I didn't really want to advertise that we were going to be gone an entire month.  But, I am back and have a laundry list of ideas to share with you guys.  Also, my MIL bought me a hand sander!  No more trying to borrow one or mutilating my hands with regular sand paper.

While in Washington, my SIL dropped in for a quick visit.  On Sunday she walked out of her room wearing a nice skirt with a super cute slip hanging out (purposefully, I should add!).  She mentioned that she got said slip at either Anthro or Urban.  I didn't want to ask how much she paid for it.  All day I thought about how I could duplicate it.  Just thinking of all the possibilities in styles and colors.  Ever had a skirt that just wasn't long enough.  Problem solved!

I started with basic broadcloth.  I talked to my mom about my idea and she suggested the broadcloth.  I originally was going to use satin but realized it would be a lot more difficult to sew with.  I cut my piece of broad cloth to my measurements.  I measured from my waist to just above my knee.  This is the length.  I didn't measure around my waist, I just made sure that it would wrap around with about six inches of extra material.  If you want your slip to end up fuller, add more than six inches to your width.

Sew/serge the two short sides together to create a tube.



To prevent fraying I serged the top and bottom edges.

Now you want to create a casing for the elastic waist.  I bought non-roll elastic so that it would not roll around when I pulled the slip on and off.  You could use any size, but I chose 1/2".

Fold your edge over and iron, making sure it is big enough to fit your elastic.  Sew around the entire tube leaving a small opening to thread your elastic through.  Cut your elastic to your waist measurement minus about an inch.  Thread your elastic through the opening and sew the two sides together with a zig zag stitch.  Sew the small opening closed.  If you are not familiar with this process google "elastic casing".

I purchased two yards of lace from HL.  The nice thing is that they have a pretty good variety of lace by the yard.  I also figure that you could dye the lace to make it any color you want.  The lace I was drawn to was of course one of the most expensive ones, but with my 40% off it made it not so bad.  I serged the raw end of my lace to make it easier to deal with later.  It also caused the lace to gather.  

Pin the serged edge of your slip to the serged edge of your lace.  Make sure that the right side of the lace is facing out.

Carefully sew around the entire width of the skirt.  Make sure you are catching both the slip and the lace.  I went extremely slow!

Once I got to the back of the skirt I left a small opening.  Flip your skirt inside out and bring the two ends of the lace together.  You should have excess amounts of lace.  Sew down the lace to create a tube.  You want to get the lace as close to the same size as the slip.  After I sewed the lace together, I serged the raw ends closed.  Then I flipped the skirt back the right way and sewed the small hole closed.

Your final product should look like this.  Nice, simple slip with a cute touch of lace.  Pretty excited to see how it looks under a skirt!

Enjoy!!