Angelina Ballerina Ears

Penelope LOVES Angelina Ballerina. So I made her some mouse ears with a bow for her halloween costume. I hope your little Angelina Ballerina lover likes them too. I think you can just right click and save the picture below. Then print at full size. It should fill a regular piece of paper.

Ok, and by "attach to elastic", I mean fold over where I've marked a dotted line and just stitch it down. These aren't super fancy, but it does the trick. :) And because I already had the dance gear and felt on hand... This costume is FREE!!! Score one for Mom!!

***and pardon her tatted up legs. She's developing a love of stick on tattoos from her big brother. 

Meet the Teacher Night- and a camera trick*

A few pics from right before "Meet the Teacher" on Monday..

The lighting outside was FABULOUS and I got a few really great pics of her. 

Love her glittery pink polish

Sweet Smile

Love this girl... and her fish tail bread

Cannot believe she's starting first grade

  I was just so excited when I uploaded these. I took them by standing way back and then zooming in on her. .. the result was some AWESOME blurred background. Love it!! I have a decent camera, but no fancy lenses or anything, so I was just so glad that this worked so well. If you've got great outdoor lighting and you can get your subject to stand semi still, you can use that zoom trick to get some great shots.

Flutter Sleeve Dress Tutorial

Flutter Sleeve Dress

My goal for this school year was to have at least 3 handmade things for her to wear the first week of school and I did it, barely. :) Here is the last thing I made, but certainly my favorite. I made it in one evening. 

It was super easy and quick.

Go here to Lil Blue Boo for basic instructions on how to construct the chest band, and dress... then come back here for the flutter sleeve straps. If you are using fabric with little stretch, I do recommend adding at least 2" to the chest measurement or making sure they take a deep breath when you measure since there will be no closure and this is gonna just slip over their head. You want to make sure it will be comfortable.

My straps were about 12 inches long and 3.5 inches wide. Iron the width in half  then open and fold the edges to the center and iron then fold in half again. You are basically making bias tape (just not on the bias). Next cut two strips 7 inches by 3 inches for the ruffles.  Then you will cut a curve to the cut edge and sew a basting stitch on the open side. Go to my flutter sleeve tutorial here for details and pictures on how to make those.

Pin those little ruffles inside the straps. Sew down both sides of the straps.

Try it on your little girl. Pin in place. I pinned mine about 2 3/4 inches from center front and back. Next top stitch around the top of the dress. Then clip off any extra length on your straps below your stitching. 

Lastly, I added a fabric flower pin I made using this tutorial, here. I used white cotton hot glued to a felt base. I did make it a pin rather than sewing it on because I figure he dress is going to get a lot of washing, probably more than that little flower will be able to handle. 

Perry Jayne

Tutorial: How to add a Ruffled flutter sleeve to a tank top

I made a new skirt for Ella and decided to make a matching tank. I added the applique and felt it needed a little something more. The little ruffled flutter sleeves are a  perfect way to add some color and fun to a plain tank.

First, cut a rectangle that is around 7 inches long and 3 1/2 inches. 

Fold in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, iron. 

Cut  the open side (not folded side) into a slight curve.

I cut one side then folded in half to cut the other side so it would match.

Sew with a long stitch on the open curved side.

Gently pull the bobbin thread to gather the ruffle.

Turn tank inside out. I folded my ruffle in half and started pinning in the middle. So the sides would be even. Pin onto tank. Sew. Don't forget to back stitch at the beginning and end.

Turn right side out. Now you have a Super Cute tank!

A Little Project- Cover Jar Lids

See my cute little button jars? Here's how I covered them. Super simple

You'll need little jars, felt, fabric, ribbon, scissors, washable sewing pen & a glue gun

Here's my jars. I got them from a Ladies Luncheon at church. 

They used to be filled with M & M's- now they are full of buttons.

Trace your lid on felt and cut it out. (This keeps your glue gun marks from showing.)

Wrap fabric around lid. Trace around your lid and cut out.

Glue on the felt circle with hot glue.

 Then glue on fabric. You may want to cut a few slits in the sides 

so it will glue around the edges smoothly.

Glue the ribbon around the edge.

Put your little jars up on a cute shelf.... 

(Please ignore the fact that my drawer front... fell off. It's an old sewing table.) 

Speaking of my old sewing table. I was thinking of painting it. 

What color should I go with... 

white, black, green, red, maybe even aqua?????

Lest you think my sewing area is always this clean here's the before & after pics to prove it was a big mess.

Changing Pad Cover for Baby

Our Little One is going to rooming in with us in our bedroom - probably until he or she is weaned. Then the new baby will move in with either big sister or big brother. But for now, I wanted all of the Baby Bedding, etc. to match our bedroom. So, I made this new changing pad cover and lined the drawers of the changing table with the gray dot, also. 

This is our quilt on our bed (and our Boston Terrier too). The color is off in this picture- It's more of a light citrus green-not yellow. Anyway, this is what I'm matching my baby things with.

The following is more the story of how I made my changing pad- if you need really good precise directions- you're better off following the link I included to a different tutorial at the very bottom. So you've been warned. :)

A few pictures of the process

First measure your changing pad cover. Length, Width, and Height.

And then go crazy with pen & paper trying to do the math to make it work. For me this involved even more math than really necessary because I decided to make mine in strips.

My Changing Pad measured like this: 

32 inches long

24.5 inches wide

3 inches tall (at the corners)

Now I also measured the changing pad cover that I had been using- which was tough because it had elastic in it. I just pulled it tight and measured. 

My old cover measured:

41 inches long

29.5 inches wide

5.5 inches tall

So if your pad measures differently- you can add about 8-9 inches to the length, 5-6 in width, and about 2 inches in height. (The height measurement is what you use to cut the squares out of the corners- later).

These measurements would have worked really well- had I used one piece of fabric. I will start by saying that I should have allowed more width in mine. I didn't allow enough for the seam allowances of sewing all those strips together. I also could have shortened the length a tad, but once the elastic was in - that was fine.

So I'll give you my measurements...but know that if your changing pad is like mine...you'll need to add some to make up for the seam allowance.

I'll start from the edge and work in.

All of these were 41 inches long- these are the widths...

(2 strips) Stone Ta Dot- 1.5 inches (should have been more like 2 inches at least)

(2 strips) White Humming Bird- 3.5 inches (should have been more like 4 inches)

(2 strips) Ta Dot- 4.5 inches

(1 strips) White Chenille- 10.5 inches

The one step that is vital, that I did not photograph is where you cut a square out of each corner and then sew  those sides together to make a corner. I just laid my fabric on my changing pad and marked off where I wanted to make my cuts with a washable sewing marker. - But you should be able to use your measurement from the height of your changing table. My measurements seemed a little off... so I just tried it out on the pad and marked it. And that worked well. 

This is all my crazy math. 

Wish someone would have told me to pay attention in Math class 

because it would be useful in sewing. LOL.

Then just make a little casing for your elastic and run it through.

This is a pretty forgiving project- since there's no top stitching- you don't see wonky sewing lines and the elastic takes up any slack from mis-measurement. So as long as you get close- it's pretty good.

Prudent Baby has a great tutorial for how to make a changing pad cover that shows more steps and pictures than I do - so if you're lost click over there and check out her tutorial. 

Show and Tell OR More Procrastination

Um, so again... I have a To Do List that I'm working on. But instead, I decided to make a few little crafts.

Felt Flower Clip

Tutorial found here:
A Hoot and a Holler

Wipes Case 

Tutorial found here:

 Make it and Love it.

Going Rouge OR Queen of Procrastination

So I have this To Do List of things I need/want to get finished before the baby gets here. I have about 2 1/2 weeks to go. So after looking at my list today... I went rouge and decided to recover an old chair. The chair was my husband's grandma's sewing chair. I've debated a few times about just getting rid of it, but I have a soft spot for old furniture.
The chair has been hiding in our Master Bedroom Closet for WAY too long taking up precious space. So I found it a new home in the hallway and decided it was too ugly to live there as is. So.... I recovered the cushion this morning. It took me a few minutes of wavering about the fabric. I love this Anna Maria Horner fabric and  have not been able to cut into it. Finally decided to just go for it. Now all it needs is a fresh coat of paint. I think black.

There are a ton of tutorials online on how to recover a chair like this, but I decided to just wing it with a little common sense and it was fine. Pretty straight forward and simple. My only advice is to make sure you center your fabric design and also to staple all the middles and then work towards the corners.
I'll have to post another picture once I get some paint on that chair... I'm debating whether to get back on track with my list or to run out and buy some paint.

UPDATE: 05/27/10  Here's the finished Chair...

Braided Headband with a Flirty Flower

I've made one of these headbands in white and black. 

Now, I'm anxious to give it a try in some colorful prints. 

Details: 

• It's best to go on the long side for the strips you use for your headband, because I just tied it in a knot when I was done and snipped off the excess. The braiding gives the headband enough stretch to just pull on & off. I wish I would have measured...but I think I just used the width of my fabric. 
• On the white flower, I folded the fabric over for the flower, so it was double layered, I used just a single layer on the black one. I think I prefer the single layer, but that's just my preference. The width and length of the fabric you use for the flower will determine its size & fluffiness, so just play with it until you like it. And I really prefer the edges to be raw, but you could hem it if you like.
• My daughter wears these headbands too, I just tie it a little tighter in back. They look even cuter on her (even if she's grumpy).

And here's a few more of her wearing it...being silly with her brother.

No Sew Shirt Re-fashion- Winter Shirt to Spring Cardigan

Supplies:
One Knit Shirt
One Pair of Scissors

Seriously easiest wardrobe re-fashion you could ever do. I took one long sleeved Winter Shirt and turned it into a Spring Cardigan in a matter of about 30 seconds.
I had this shirt in my closet. It wasn't one that I wore much before I got pregnant and couldn't wear it since my belly has gotten so big. I needed a little cardigan to wear tonight, so... I just cut it up. Perfect!

1. Find a long sleeved knit shirt that is in good condition, but that you've found you no longer wear (or in my case, it was getting way too small)
2. Find the center of the front. Make a straight cut all the way up. Be careful not to cut through the back.
3.If you want it to be 3/4 sleeves. Find the spot where you would like the sleeve to stop and snip it off. Use that piece to measure how much to cut from the other sleeve. You'd look silly with sleeves that were different lengths. LOL.
4. Ta Da. Wear it.

How to throw a Mardi Gras Bunco Party

Throw A Mardi Gras Party

I recently hosted our Church's Bunco Group (we call ourselves "The Bunco Babes"). It is so much fun to get together with the girls each month and have some fun. I chose a Mardi Gras theme for my month to host. I could have done Valentines Day, but that just seemed to blah to me...so Mardi Gras it was. Now I grew up a Kansas girl, so it took some research for me to plan this. I'm posting what I found, in case there are any other Yankees wanting to host a Mardi Gras party this year. It may not be a completely accurate representation of a true New Orleans type party, but you get the feel.

Food:

Jambalya- I used Zataran's and added a little onion, green onion, ham, sausage, and shrimp- Cooked this an hour before the party and kept it warm in my crock pot.

Oven Fries- Cut potatoes into wedges and shake in bag with 2T olive oil, 2T sugar, 1 T season salt, then bake in the oven at 450 for 40 min. Now I had to cook a ton of potatoes, so I ended up turning on the broiler for the last 5 minutes to crisp mine up more.

Corn on the Cob- I bought frozen corn on the cob since it's out of season, boil & serve with butter.

French Bread

King Cake- bought at my local bakery

Decor:

Green, Gold, and Purple- lots of BEADS & Doubloons. I also made tissue paper pom-poms, which are my new Go-to decoration for parties. I cannot believe I hadn't made these before. I found out how to make them here.

http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/tissue-paper-pom-poms-how-to?backto=true

Also found these great free printable Mardi Gras place cards that I used to mark the "High", "Middle", and "Low" tables for Bunco. I also used them to make the winners necklaces.

http://triciarennea.blogspot.com/2009/02/mardi-gras-party-place-cards.html

Music: Play New Orleans brass band or Zydeco music. Here's a list I found...somewhere on the internet. Wish I could give credit, but I do not remember where I found the list.

Earl King's "Big Chief"

Dixie Cups' "Iko Iko,"

Al Johnson's "Carnival Time,"

The Meters' "They All Asked for You,"

Professor Longhair's "Go to the Mardi Gras,"

The Wild Tchoupitoulas' "Hey Pocky-A-Way,"

and The Funky Meters' "Mardi Gras Mambo."

My husband also added the song "Who Dat?" that they played at for the super bowl to the playlist for me.

Dress:

Ask your guest to come wearing masks, boas, lots of color and sparkle. If all else fails, just come in green, gold, or purple.

I found some free printable masks at "Print Picinic"

http://www.printpicnic.com/mardi-gras-masks.html

I printed a few extra to have on hand for guests who didn't bring one.

Supplies of Bunco:

• 12 Chairs
• 3 Card Tables
• Bell
• 12 Pencils
• 3 Notebooks
• 9 Dice

In our Bunco Group, we each pay $5 to go toward prizes and each take a turn hosting at our homes. We award prizes for Most Buncos ($30), Most Wins($15), and Most Losses($15). You could start a group yourself or just host a one time party. Either way, it's lots of fun.

Here's a link for the rules for Bunco- in case you've never played. It's lots of fun and no skill is needed, just luck.

http://www.ehow.com/how_14930_play-bunco.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_16204_keep-score-bunco.html

Good Luck and Have fun!

Baby Doll Party Hat Tutorial

*You may need to adjust measurements for your particular Baby Doll, but I included the measurements I used for our dolls as a starting point.

1. Cut out a semi circle of Stiff Felt- Mine was 9 inches long on the straight side and about 4 1/2 inches at the widest part of the semi circle. (If you had a protractor you could make a super nice circle with a 4 1/2 inch radius and then just cut it in half.)

2. Cover with Fabric. I used wonder under and ironed mine on- you could just wrap around and sew or glue it on, whatever.

3. Sew on ric rac if you like. Sew on some elastic for the chin strap. My chin strap for Bitty Baby was 8 inches long and about 7 inches for the Dora/Diego Dolls. But it stretches so there's some wiggle room.

4.Roll into a cone. Sew shut by hand.

5. Add a little flower or pom pom on top.