Sparklinbecks

Christmas Baking

2012-01-06T11:07:00.001-07:00

It's been a whole month since I posted last?! Wow that is sure crazy! Time flies way too fast!

I wanted to post the list of cookies I made this year so that next year I would remember what all I did. Every year, Christmas baking is a big deal in our house. Now that we have a little Christmas/New Year's Birthday Girl with a BIG sweet tooth, the baking doesn't stop at Christmas! I will share her birthday celebration soon, and I am not including everything that was made the week after Christmas, but here's a list of goodies the month of Christmas.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (made three different times), I use Nestle's recipe. I got a great big bag of chocolate chips from my inlaws and a cookie jar handpainted by my father in law.
Cake Mix Sugar cookies
Chocolate Chocolate chip cookies *made with cake mix again
Pumpkin cookies
Snickerdoodle bars
snickerdoodles
Eggnog cookies You will need to add more flour
No bake cookies (made twice)
Peanut butter cookies (made twice from The Art & Soul of Baking, this is my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe ever)
Sugar Cookies (made twice) Royal Icing Frosting recipe too.
Candy Cane cookies (made three times, oh boy)
Chocolate covered pretzels
Peppermint patties, this was a first year making them and they were excellent!

Seriously scared of stepping on the scale! Thank goodness we gave a lot away! And thank goodness I got new running shoes!

The little treat bags I made were done with white staz-on, a stamp and torn fabric strips to tie the cello bags together :)

A Very Scrappy Christmas

2011-12-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

Pinterest is rekindling an old love of mine; paper crafting. I know I talk about Pinterest a lot, but it is so fun to bounce ideas around and be inspired. I feel like I do more projects using other people's ideas for inspiration than trying to come up with things on my own all of the time. Isn't the internet so great for sharing?

I saw this cute little Christmas countdown here and my sister in law and I each did a spin off of our own versions. Here's mine. Love this new little countdown!

Then while I still had all of my stuff out and my husband watched football, I made this photo cube cut from a piece of scrapbook I have held onto for a couple of years. This project all came out of my ahead, but I love the ability to put older pictures on it as time goes on.

The pictures are from past years' Christmases except for the one of my daughter from this Christmas season.

And my sister in law sent me a pin she saw that inspired me to do this very similar version:

And last but not least, another Pinterest inspired craft. We don't have a chimney and aren't really into Santa, but I liked the wording of this and like all of the other projects here, already had the supplies on hand.

Hope some of these can inspire you guys too!

Do you DIY ornaments?

2011-12-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Pinterest has been inspiring me this year to do all sorts of fun ornaments for our little family tree! Here are some links to do your own DIY ornaments! I won't include pictures of each one here, but if you click on the links you can make see the cute ideas!

The cinnamon ones made the house smell so good. I put a few in the tree and also put some on gifts as toppers. From Martha Stewart

Picture from Martha Stewart

Yesterday, we baked salt dough ornaments so the kids can paint them this evening. Including the obligatory hand print one. Here is the recipe.

We also did these bird seed ones for outside. The kids love watching the birds eating their ornaments that they made for them! They are made with bird seed and gelatin. Recipe here.

And this clothespin nativity one is probably my favorite. There's a tutorial you can buy from Etsy, but I winged mine.

We did these glitter balls too. It was so easy and I had everything here on hand. Another great gift topper! I will post this picture, because I had put it on my instagram :) Here's the how-to

Super Hero Shirts

2011-12-02T11:59:00.001-07:00

My boys love super heroes. Like kinda obsessed a bit. I love good deals. Like kinda obsessed a lot.

I was at Dollar Tree a few months back and picked up a blue shirt that totally screamed "Decorate me!". So I took it home, put it in the "to do" cabinet and moved on.

I knew I wanted to make my middle guy a Captain America shirt with it, but didn't know if I should do an applique or a freezer paper stencil.

Michael's had their felt sheets 5 for a dollar a couple of weeks ago, so I had picked up a nice big stack. I got to thinking that the felt would be a fun applique on the blue shirt and whipped on up really quick!

I had a wooden star I used for a template and then randomly grabbed some bowls and lids in the kitchen and layered with fusible paper backed web. Sewed each layer on and sewed to the shirt. Super quick!

Which of course woke up the beast to create more. So back to dollar tree I went, picked up 7 more shirts and made 2 sets of 4 super hero shirts to give to my boys for christmas. The whole project (8 shirts) was under 10 dollars and I think thats a great deal compared to buying 1 store bought super hero shirt for more than that!

Make sure to buy a bit bigger and wash and dry them before beginning. They are actually decent quality shirts despite being from the dollar tree, but I am a tad nervous of how they will fit the boys since I wasn't able to try the shirts on them! And of course, colors were limited (I would have loved green and red)!

I washed and dried captain america after it was finished and the felt held up super duper, as you can see in the picture!

Not all of them came together as quickly as the captain america, I suggest just googling whatever logo you like, printing the image and cutting the pieces out to trace.

the other shirts were:

green lantern

avengers

the flash

fantastic four

x men

superman

batman

I can't wait for the boys to see them!

Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T12:00:00.016-07:00

For years, I have wanted a really neat advent calendar. I love the idea of the kids getting little treats every day leading up to Christmas. There's something special about the month of December.

This year, we decided after looking around and trying to find a fun idea, to just build something with the stuff we had on hand. Wood scraps, scrapbook paper I had hoarded from a few years ago, muslin, paint from painting the hallway, and wrapping paper all came together to make this advent calendar.

My husband is a pretty handy guy! I showed him a picture of what I was thinking shape wise, then we cut everything out. I lined the back piece with wrapping paper and then as we painted the pieces, he assembled it all.

I had this scrapbook paper here from a few years ago. I cut each day out and modge podged them onto poker chips I picked up at the thrift store, then glued them onto each compartment. I wanted the title to be seen by the little ones, so I put it toward the top of the shelf rather than the center.

For the bags, I cut out a piece of muslin, folded it sewed the sides and made a draw string for it, then freezer paper stenciled each day on them in different fonts and colors.

Each day has little treats, activities and small toys for them to receive as the days draw closer to Christmas. Can't wait to incorporate this into our family traditions!

Christmas Pajamas

2011-11-30T13:38:00.002-07:00

I'm going to be honest here. I am about to go crazy. I have had sick kids nonstop since Saturday, which means I have not had a lot of time whatsoever for myself, not much sleep and minimum outings outside of my home.

Today I had enough of sitting on the couch. I love my babies and I feel bad for them that they don't feel good, but I am just not a couch sitter. I cleaned up the house that was needing it in a desperate way, and made lunch. Just doing those things helped me so much! And how is it the last day of November?!

Anyway, it's no secret that I am a frugal crafter. I love creating things from other things, reusing what we dont need anymore or what other people have gotten rid of. Some people call me cheap, I think of myself as resourceful.

Every year, we give the kids a pair of pajamas on Christmas eve. Just one of those traditions that a lot of people do. There's something about a comfortable pair of pajamas and going to bed all snug and happy!

We have done matching pajamas in the past as well as fun cutesy pajamas (I was even talked into character pajamas last year).

These were my favorite. Look how tiny these boys were!

This year I wanted to go back to the matching pajamas idea and started looking around. Unfortunately, I couldn't really find anything that didnt cost an arm and a leg, that looked good with both genders and that was in all the sizes I needed!

I was at the local thrift store during their half off day and stumbled upon two flannel king size pillow cases. For 50 cents a piece, I bought them, washed them and started playing around. This was one of those projects that I went in and didn't know what I was doing with everything, or have a vision at all. I just went for it. I figured if I messed up, I was only out a dollar. I love the results!

I honestly didnt expect to get 24 months, 5t, 6 sizes from two pillow cases but it actually worked! I even had enough left over to applique matching shirts and add ruffles to the 24 months pants. I used pants they already had for patterns and the boys' pants had the pillow case edge so I didn't need to hem theirs.

Then I added their names to the pants as well with a simple embroidery thread. I did it free hand but you could use a washable marker to trace.

The appliques were used using this pattern I found on pinterest I did a simple zig zag stitch around it after I ironed them on with paper backed fusible web.

And shh don't tell, but one of the shirts was a 50 cent yard sale find, one was a hand me down from a sibling and the other I did have to purchase. But since I only put 1.50 into it, I figured a 5 dollar shirt was ok. 6.50 for matching pjs? Works for me!

Can't wait to see them all matchy and snuggly on Christmas morning!

I linked up at these great blogs!

I miss blogging.

2011-11-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

I often struggle with blogging here because I don't ever want to come across as unrealistic or bragging. But because the point of blogging to me is to share ideas as well as help people be inspired like I am often inspired by other bloggers, I have decided that I really honestly enjoy blogging and talking to other bloggers and having fun sharing crafts in the online crafting community!

So baby, I am back!

Which is fun right? Because it's that time of the year that I love crafting the most! Christmas gifts and decorations!

We keep things pretty simple in terms of decorations and gifts, often trying to give as much handmade as we can and have been working a little bit at a time here and there for the past couple of months.

I will leave you with a picture of our simple little tree, complete with some new handmade ornaments I worked on this weekend, the tree skirt inspired from pinterest, and our handmade tree topper we put every year.

all pictures were taken with my phone. just gettin' real with ya.

Make a dress, any dress!

2011-09-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

I have really gotten into a rut with sewing. I use tutorials and patterns I have purchased online, but I hadn't really done anything "on my own" in awhile.

Yesterday, I pulled out a dress that I think looks so comfortable when my daughter wears it, but since she is so tall, it is getting to be short on her long legs!

I traced it, used some basic sewing knowledge to apply to the construction of it, and duplicated it into a new one.

This took probably about half a yard to do, and then I made bais tape from a coordinating brown knit.

You can do it too! Trace your dress (or tshirt or pants or skirt!) pieces onto paper before cutting into your material. This way you can tweak until the pieces look right. Always give yourself a lot of wiggle room, especially if you are making the outfit bigger than the original. Don't forget your seam allowances!

Then, you can embellish it however you want! Bows, buttons, pockets, ruffles, you name it!

New (to us) Dining Set

2011-09-25T20:12:00.002-07:00

This summer, I have been looking high and low for a new kitchen set. They are so pricey brand new and we had our eye on one, but I still did not really want to spend $$ on that. I was checking craigslist and thrift stores frequently as well, but no luck. The problem was, our hand-me-down kitchen set was falling apart big time. I would jsut hold my breath when we would have people over, praying that the chairs did not fall apart!

One day, I was at the thrift store and got an email asking if I would be interested in this set:

For FREE!

I jumped on it so fast, because this was PERFECT for our family! It has a leaf and seats 8 or without the leaf it seats 6. It is already over 40 years old. It was just God taking care of us once again! It was destined to go to Goodwill but Goodwill wasnt going to pick it up for a month or two.

I knew this baby had a lot of potential. I had seen a picture online of a table that looked like the one that we were getting and knew that was exactly what we wanted. So my husband and I worked on it every day for 7 days whenever we would have time, usually in the dark and when the kids were in bed.

Yesterday, we finished it up. Here it is still in the garage, with the leaf in.

And here it is in the kitchen without the leaf and only 6 chairs!

I kidproofed the chairs with some clear vinyl I sewed covers for. I am still super paranoid though!

We are so grateful for it and I hope it lasts a long long long time!

Living Room Update

2011-09-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

My husband and I are mutually getting sick of the decor in the living room. We both really like the colors but there are things we would love to change. Like those mirrors on the wall above the couch. Or the couch itself.

One of the perks that my husband's job has been doing is giving small gift cards here and there that you can choose where to spend them. Usually, he picks Amazon or Lowe’s. They are pretty handy to have and we have even been saving up here and there to buy a new dishwasher once our’s gives out (which we know might be soon).

Saturday, I decided on a whim to redo the living room frame of the kids. Ellie has been pointing at that one and the kitchen one and saying everyone, and looking for herself as well. I thought it would be a quick fix to add some new pictures and be done. But if you give Rebecca a a picture, it turns into a collage, which turns into…..a whole new project. And I got a jig saw for my birthday I was dying to put to use. But the cool part about this project is that it cost us nothing to do, and we used a lot of what we had here at home!

Here’s the before: ( This is a very old picture, I need to add pictures of the little entry way by the door. I have changed it up a lot over there!)

Buh-bye mirrors over couch!

This is the original collage that I was fixing.

which turned into a scalloped piece.

which turned into a larger frame of the scalloped piece.

Then we decided to frame it out above the couch.

And then paint it.

Then take those old ikea mirrors and make new frames. I drew out the shapes and then we cut them out with the jig saw and router-ed the edges and painted them.

Which all turned into this:

It’s hard to really show the details in the pictures, but we are both super happy with it. And Ellie loves standing on the couch looking at all the pictures of….herself.

We also put new feet on our couch just to raise it up (which is cheaper than buying a new couch!) and can tell a difference between that and our love seat (that we still need to do). And now I have an empty wall space in the living room I can add something new to (I have ideas)!

Family Art Work

2011-08-05T11:15:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on pinterest, did you see this adorable idea fromSamster Mommy's Natasha? She got everyone in her family (including the pets!) and created a beautiful masterpiece!

I have been collecting a couple of things here and there to eventually redo the wall above our couch into more of a gallery type wall. (And by a couple, I mean, I have two frames so far.) I don't want to start it until I can finish it, and it might take awhile to get everything and figure out what I want to do, so I am not rushing it. But i thought this would be a perfect center to the whole thing.

I got everyone together (minus the dog, because it was hard enough to keep a 19 month old's hands contained during this) and we all had a blast creating it together!

(and what art session isn't complete without their nerf guns?)

I already had scrapbooking letters to spell out family, a primed canvas and the acrylic paints on hand. We each took a color that each family member tends to gravitate to, which ended up blended together pretty well! The colors in my living room tend to be a tiffany blue and browns, and I have been wanting to incorporate more whites and greens as well.

I love the gloppy textures, I love that you can not tell they are handprints of every size unless you look at it for awhile, because it just makes a "firework" display as my 4 year old called it. I really like the family as lowercased too on ours. Its just us!

On the back, I wrote our names and the year, everyone's ages and how many years we have been married.

A fun and easy dress from Make it and Love it

2011-07-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

I made this dress found here and loved how simple it was to make, how comfortable it is for her to wear, but how fun and cute it is to look at!

And supposedly, knowing how to braid a 5 strand is a useful skill to have, so my husband tells me!

One shoulder shirt

2011-07-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I disappeared again. I am enjoying every second of the summer with my three beautiful children! Still sewing, crafting and creating, but blogging isn't a top priority right now!

Thought I would share a super fun link that I used to create this today! Luvinthemommyhood is doing a mini theme on knits and I thought this was too adorable not to try and share!

Til next time!

A friendly (weightloss) competition

2011-06-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are in a battle. We are battling to see who can reach their own weight loss goal in three months. There's money on the line, people!

I will admit, having three kids in 4 1/2 years and using excuses because of busy life, schedules, etc hasn't helped me one bit, but I will be 30 next year and really want to get into shape and feel good about myself before a new set of numbers begin!

I started yesterday and wasn't pleased at the options I saw on the menu at Red Robin (where he chose for Father's day), so I am scouting out new choices, recipes, etc.

I am also drinking tons more water and began exercising as well. The exercise part is lacking big time, and I am already finding myself using the 100+ temps outside as an excuse. I am starting small though, alternating yoga and bike riding.

So in my quest to find things to try to keep this fun and exciting, I stumbled upon this book yesterday and plan on ordering it. Anyone have this?

And let me know if you have any tips and tricks for me! I am pretty open to hear anything and would love to hear your own thoughts! I know its a process and I want to do it the right way, but I have GOT to beat him!

Didn't disappear!

2011-06-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

I haven't disappeared! I had blogged a lot of entries ahead of time before we went out of town and then did a few more while we were out of town. We were gone for two and a half weeks, including some time with zero internet or cell phone service (gasp!)

Now that we are home, I am getting ready to do a yard sale here soon, and I was busy doing laundry and unpacking and getting back into our normal routine. Also...I LOVE summer! I love having all three kids home with me at once! I am treasuring every minute and having so much fun with them. They grow way too fast!

I have been working on some projects too!

Talk to you soon and enjoy those men in your life this weekend. They deserve it!

Duct Tape Roses Tutorial

2011-06-13T05:35:00.028-07:00

My grandma has discovered the world of duct tape crafts.

So, she taught me how to do duct tape roses.

Here's what you do:

Get about 4 inches of wire to tape the petals to. She uses this old lap board to do all of her taping and measuring with.

Then start cutting 3 inch long strips for petals. You will need to cut 24.

Now fold over like this:

and then over again like this:

Wrap the petal around your wire.

Keep wrapping petals around as you make them:

After you have done all 24, it should look like this:

Now let's work on the petals.

Cut a 6 inch strip of green and 4 pieces of 3 inches apiece of wire,

Place the four pieces of wire on the sticky part of the tape, then cover with another piece of tape.

Cut leaf shapes out:

Twist the four leafs together

Then wrap the whole stem with the rose and leaves together with another piece of green

Complete!

Petal Pillow (antique)

2011-06-10T05:00:00.012-07:00

Growing up, I always played and adored my mom's petal pillows that she inherited from her grandmother. They were so much fun to look at all the fabric colors and designs when I was supposed to be taking a nap.

I mentioned the pillow to my grandma and off she went to find hers. And then...she gave it to me!! This is something that I will forever treasure!

Check out the back of the pillow. Isn't it neat?

Apparently, she made at least 7 of these pillows (different shapes and varieties) possibly more. Can you imagine the patience?

I googled it, and found an owl pattern that I bought to try. Christmas presents for the kids! It will be a great stash buster for all those scraps, and something that maybe they will enjoy as much as I did.

DIY Car DVD Player Holder

2011-06-09T04:59:00.002-07:00

If you don't have a built in DVD player in your car but need something for roadtrips, check out this handy dandy system my husband did for us!

He took a scrap piece of wood and drilled holes in it for the headrests to go through, and we keep it in the middle of the car for all of the kids to see. Also, cut off the corners so that there's no sharp edges if there's an accident.

Then he added two more holes for the cords to go through. We have a power inverter for the plug and we have a stereo cord for the sound to play through the speakers in the car.

That is also an industrial strength piece of velcro. We put one on the board and one on the dvd player to hold it in place.

Please excuse our ~~messy~~ real view. All seats in the back are able to watch it! Makes a 25 hour car trip totally possible!

Got Ski? (soda)

2011-06-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Recently my husband was reading an article about a bottling company that he thought was in St Louis (where we are visiting some of my family), but as he read it, he learned that it is actually in a very small town that some of my family is from.

If you read the article, you will see that the bottles have been in use since the 60's! It's so neat because you can go to the Excel Bottling Company and pick up a case for yourself at the side of the building in any combination of flavors that they sell for 18.00. You get 24 bottles and if you bring the bottles back, you get 10.00 back, or you can refill them for 8.00

We went and picked up a case. Some of the dates on the bottles read '68 and '69. They were sold out of root beer (their most popular flavor) but we got a whole assortment of other kinds, including Ski.

I thought the case was the best part.

Just a really cool story of reusing materials.

Fancy up that Grill!

2011-06-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

My husband really enjoys smoking meat and bbqing. He always talks about one day opening up his own little restaurant, so together, we "upscaled" his new smoker.

What we used:

Rust-oleum high heat ultra in aged copper
clear contact paper
cutting machine

It's not perfect, and it could be a bit more centered, but I like that his smoker is now custom!

mason jars

2011-06-06T05:17:00.000-07:00

I adore mason jars. There's just so many different uses for them besides canning!

If you do a search on Pinterest, you can see all sorts of different ideas! Here's two that I made from ideas I saw on pinterest using what I already had here at home:

Soap Dispenser (how-to at the link)

Match Stick Holder

Road Trip Fun Idea!

2011-06-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea over at The Mother Huddle and it screamed out to me, "TRY ME!" I think I even heard the word "please" when it screamed out at me, so I knew I must do this for our own road trip.

I didn't buy any new dvds for the trip, so I didn't add them to the bags but I did do some of the same ideas as what I saw. So excited to put a twist on entertaining the kids in the car for 24 hours!

Hopefully I am going in prepared and we will have lots of fun! Movies, music, coloring, new pillows and new little toys, plus lots of snacks. The snacks are a big deal because they are never allowed to eat in the car. Mean parents, aren't we?

Travel Pillowcases

2011-06-02T05:10:00.004-07:00

Another idea I saw on Pinterest that I had to try!

Travel Pillowcases! (original idea blogged here)

I took old pillowcases and transformed them. Used the seam ripper so I could add the handles, sewed on a monogrammed pocket and it was complete!

The kids are so excited about them, they have already been breaking them in, hence the wrinkles on JJ's pillowcase.

and all three have these fun handles that they can carry their "pillow bags" with!

Any little thing to make a long road trip more fun helps!

Cookie Tray into Chalkboard

2011-06-01T05:02:00.000-07:00

Please watch young children around magnets!

My daughter loves chalk and magnets. She's only 17 months old, but is just drawn to coloring like her big brothers and playing with the magnets on the fridge.

I was trying to think of ways to entertain her in the car, and saw this idea at one point somewhere. I thought it was the perfect option for her because she enjoys them and they are flat and easily stored in the car under her seat!

I had the chalkboard paint here already, so then I bought a .99 cent pack of alphabet magnets and a cookie sheet. Do a few coats of the paint, and if you paint inside the cookie sheet, there's a ledge to keep the chalk on.

Can't wait to see her try it out!

Gameboy Bag

2011-05-31T04:33:00.013-07:00

Remember the old school gameboys?

A few years ago, we were given a couple of these without the games for our boys to have. We put them aside for when they were older.

My biggest guy is about to turn 6, and we went back and forth on buying him a gameboy type game system. But, they are really expensive, and we have two boys that are very close in age. Because of that, I hesitate to spend a lot on one and not the other, and cringe at the thought of something expensive getting broken because of a younger sibling.

Then the lightbulb went on again. The gameboys we had put away! Not only are they pretty sturdy, but we had two, and we could buy a bunch of games inexpensively and we could take them on our upcoming very long roadtrip!

I searched eBay like crazy and bought quite a few games so that they had a bunch to choose from that they could play between them. I am so excited to give this to them!

The only problem was a way to carry it all. There are bags out there, but I wanted one that held it all in a functional way and suited my boys' personalities.

I was going to make a tutorial of this project because I was going to make two bags, but the first bag ended up being the only bag I made, so I do apologize for not having a how-to for this project.

It's not very difficult whatsoever, but unfortunately, I caught a really nasty cold that turned into a sinus infection, so my energy level took a major hit. You know the kind where you have to continue being mom, keeping up on the household chores, and other life responsibilities, oh and throw in your child's birthday party and prepare to take a very long vacation, and well.....I only made one bag!

Here's what I used though, so if you are interested, you can do one too! I made it up as I went along to suite the functions that we needed using what we had on hand here:

a curtain (it was heavier material)
hardware and a strap from an old diaper bag
felt for the applique.
2 zippers (you can buy big and shorten them to suit your individual projects)

I made a divider and one side had a middle pocket. This is good for the batteries and such. This is also the side where both gameboys, side by side are kept.

On the other side, I made more game pockets so that one whole side was all game pockets

I cheated on the strap because I used diaper bag hardware I had saved.

And there you have it! An old school gameboy(s) bag!

Happy 6th Birthday to my First Baby!

2011-05-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Six years ago (on Memorial day) I became a mommy for the first time, to a beautiful 7 lb 8 oz baby boy with dark hair and sweet little ears. The birth was long and a bit traumatic, but after 24 hours and an emergency c-section, we finally met each other. As soon as I saw him, I loved him oh so very very much.

Now he's 6 years old, going into the first grade, and the best big brother ever. He has a beautiful smile, a contagious giggle and a big heart. He rides his bike without training wheels, is really starting to get the hang of reading and has a keen mind for music. He might think he knows more than he does at his ripe age of six, but you gotta love his confidence!

Happy Birthday (always my baby boy) Jaden!

(my picture isn't the greatest, but the subject is the best!)

Winner winner!

2011-05-27T17:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Checking in real quick to announce the Vintage Apron winner! (anyone decide to make their own? :))

The winner of the apron thanks to random.org is...

drum roll please...

....is Kelli Fisk!

Congrats, Kelli!

The Man Cold.

2011-05-26T05:05:00.004-07:00

Last day to enter the giveaway! Make sure you head over to Thrifty Decorating and enter to win the Vintage Apron!

I made the "mistake" of getting sick. You know what I mean ladies, no sympathy around these parts! And like most people who share a roof, my children and my husband got sick as well.

Except, my husband caught a different kind of sickness. He caught...

The Man Cold.

Birdcage makeover

2011-05-25T05:01:00.000-07:00

Make sure you head over to Thrifty Decorating and enter to win the Vintage Apron!

Awhile back, I was on the lookout for a pretty and decorative birdcage to go on my table in my entry way. I wanted one of those tall skinny birdcages at Pottery Barn. But since my attention span and decorating changes a lot, I wasn't interested in spending a lot either.

I looked around on Craigslist (which I have yet to buy from) and didn't see any, and figured when I find one, "Great!"

Well, one day, I went to a yard sale in my neighborhood and saw a lonely birdcage sitting on a table for 4.00. YES. FOUR DOLLARS! I snatched it right up, paid for it and gleefully sped away before she could change her mind.

At first glance, it wasn't impressive. There were some hot glue spots on it with remnants of feathers here and there like a craft project gone wrong. It was painted in a very country fashion. But I knew this had potential.

I picked up some spray paint (Valspar "Mediterranean") and got right to work. I wish I had taken a before picture, but alas, I did not. You will just have to settle for the after picture!

I wanted to add some candles inside so I ran over to the dollar store and picked up 3 of their largest pillar candles. I still needed a larger one, and I was able to get the large one you see in the picture on sale for 10.00 and use a 10 off 10.00 coupon at Kohls! Picked up a hook and chain to hang it and it was complete!

It was larger than I had wanted since it didn't fit on my entry table, but I do really like it's alternative spot. Now I just need to find something else to go in that spot!

Leigh's Blankies

2011-05-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

About 9 months ago, a friend of mine from high school who lives back East sent me an email asking if I had heard of this man's story because they are a local Christian family who lost his wife; his three children's mother in a car accident.

I sat and read his blog for a very long time that day, with tears streaming down my face. It was so raw and so real and just so possible for any one of us to experience. I went to church that week and asked for prayer for this family. They were always on my heart and my mind.

Fast forward a few months later, and I saw on the blog that Leigh Ann's best friend Andra started up an awesome organization called "Leigh's Blankies". You can read all about her story here

One Saturday recently, my husband and the kids and I were out and about and stopped by a yard sale in our neighborhood. I hopped out of the car really quick to take a peak and saw a sign talking about "Leigh's Blankies". I spoke out loud my thoughts and low and behold, I was meeting the sweet woman who started this!

(an orphanage in Haiti just received 20 new blankets!)

This same yard sale raised $750.00 for Leigh's Blankies. This week, Andra got a request in for an order of 70 xl boys' blankets. The cost to make these blankets? 756.00! Totally God!

God is using them to do great and mighty things for children around the world by providing blankets and spreading His love! It is exciting! They are in need of donations, Sewers (they have kits that can be picked up and completed at home and brought back!) and any help you would like to give. PLEASE "like" their facebook! I can not wait to get involved in this God-led group helping others out and I am so excited to see what God has in store!

Thrifty Little Apron Tutorial and Giveaway

2011-05-23T05:00:00.002-07:00

What can you do with some curtains, sheets or even an old muumuu? Lots of things, of course! I got a pretty flat sheet from the thrift store and made it into this:

Do you want it? I am giving it away this week at Thrifty Decorating! Leave a comment at her blog this evening through Thursday and you can enter to win it Friday! Follow me and leave a comment that you did so and receive an extra entry! Follow her and leave a comment that you did so and receive an extra entry! That is three chances!

Tutorial:

First let me apologize for the dark pictures. Sometimes, my sewing is done late at night once the kids are in bed :)

Using a flat sheet (because of the finished hems), an old curtain to use for trim, and ric rac and two d-rings I had here, I made up this thrifty little tutorial so that you too can make this apron.

(please don't gauge the pieces in picture to actual measurements for apron. there's extra pieces and different sizes of fabric. this is just an example of the three coordinating fabrics you will use.)

For Apron Body, you will need two pieces

for top, cut 13 inches W x 12 1/2 long.
for bottom, cut 24 inches x 24 inches

For straps you will need:

2 d rings
2 fabric pieces 4 inch x 36 inch long (side straps)
1 piece 4 inch x 3 inch long (for d rings)
1 piece 4 inch x 24 inch long (neck strap)

For pocket you will need:

1 7x7 cut on fold, or 7x14 not cut on fold
1 7x3 cut on fold or 1 7x6 not cut on fold
ric rac

Bottom Edge

1 4 inch x 25 inch piece
ric rac

Let's start cutting and sewing!

For the top, see how i used the top of the sheet for my top hem? it makes it sturdier because the hem is bigger than the bottom of the sheet would be.

now fold this in half and cut diagonally 2 1/2 inches at your starting point

Open your piece back up and you should have a trapezoid.

(trapezoid in case you need a picture :))

Now fold over 1/4 an inch on sides, iron and fold again, and iron. Sew. This is your side hems for the top. (Your bottom edge of the top should still be raw)

Now let's make a pocket. I am using old gingam fabric and an old curtain for the pocket and the straps.

Cut your pocket on the fold 7x7 (sorry i dont have a picture of this)

The cut your trim piece on the fold, 7x3 (or you can just cut 7x6 and fold it)

Trim piece:

now fold into the center on both sides and iron.

The fold again and iron

insert your pocket into the trim piece so that the trim pieces sandwich the raw edges. the fold of the pocket should be at the bottom.

now sew the trim on:

add ric rac over the sewn line: pin and sew

fold side edges in on wrong side of pocket and iron

Pin it in the center of your top portion of your apron and then sew all three sides on, leaving top.

Pocket is complete!

Now lets work on top straps.

Fold over right sides together and sew shut to make a long tube:

Using a safety pin, turn right side out:

Then iron flat and top stitch the long sides, leaving the ends open.

Now take your tiny strap piece, slide d-rings on and sew into place across d rings:

Pin onto the top of your top piece like this:

and sew on:

Sew on your neck strap on the other edge of the top piece and then finish the edge not sewn on by folding over and ironing and then folding into a diagonal. sew into place.

top is finished! Let's work on the bottom.

Your bottom edge of the bottom piece should already be hemmed, thanks to the sheet's edge. All you need to do is the two side pieces. Fold over 1/4 inch, iron, fold again and iron, then sew for both sides.

Now we are going to take the top raw edge of the bottom piece and make pleats. If you do not want to make pleats, you can also gather it the width of the bottom of the top piece.

Fold a 1/2 inch and pin every couple of inches until your pleats are all symmetrical and the width matches the width of your bottom top piece.

Iron pleats

and sew across 1/4 inch down from edge

Now pin right sides together, and sew top of apron onto bottom of apron:

top stitch.

Tada! Main body piece is finished! Now for side straps:

Using same method as the neck straps, do both side straps, then sew onto the sides of the bottom portion of apron where top was sewn on like this:

Side straps are finished!

Now, you can stop and be done since your bottom edge is hemmed for you, or you can add more of the curtain and ric rac to finish the edge.

Fold over your 4 inch x 25 inch bottom edge and iron.

For side edges: fold 1/4 inch, iron and repeat. Sew into place. Do this for both edges.

Pin piece onto bottom of apron and sew on

Then add ric rac where you just sewed.

Your apron is now finished! Step back and admire your thrifty work!

DIY bird feeder

2011-05-20T05:45:00.002-07:00

My boys have really taken an interest in the birds outside, especially the hummingbirds!

Earlier in the week, we picked up a cheap hummingbird feeder and made hummingbird food (boiled 4 cups of water and added a cup of sugar and refrigerated). We hung it right outside where we eat and are able to see the feeder.

Well, that left out the rest of the birds! I had mentioned to my dad that we were on our way to get some bird food and a feeder, and he told me to stop by since he had some bird food already, and he sent us home with not only the bird food, but the supplies to make a bird feeder just like my great grandmother used to make!

Here's a super simple bird feeder that you can make with your kids:

An old juice bottle with lid cleaned out

Some string

bird food

sharp scissors or box cutter, pliers, screwdriver or drill

Cut from the top halfway down the bottle "doors" on each of the 4 parts of the bottle. Only cut three sides on each piece so that the birds have a landing spot to hang out on while they eat.

Fold down. It might be kind of stiff, so use your pliers to help crease the plastic

Fill bottom with bird seed

Poke a hole in your cap

Tie a really large knot in some string

and thread through cap

Place cap back on bottle and your bird feeder is finished!

Of course you can paint it, sticker it, mod podge it, or whatever you'd like (I liked it plain, but I have a suspicion my little artist will convince me otherwise)

Wax warmer idea

2011-05-19T06:00:00.002-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago, I scored these cool candle samples from my mother in law. Just little pots of scents that I think help you smell and choose what candle you'd like to purchase.

We were at the dollar store last night getting a few things for an upcoming road trip and I saw a little metal wax warmer:

and I thought, "how perfect this would be to heat up those fun scents!"

So I scoop out a little bit of the wax with a little spoon and place in warmer.

It takes no time at all to melt and smell the fragrance. Just heat with a tea light until the scent is gone, clean out and reuse. So far, I have heated it through three tea lights and I can still smell the fragrance.

Refinished Doorknobs

2011-05-18T06:00:00.064-07:00

When we bought our house 8 years ago, its came with brass everything. Light fixtures, door stops, and handles. Not that there's anything wrong with brass, but it's just not for me.

Have you ever looked at how much door knobs cost? Even for the standard ones we had were a lot. And it seemed so...unimportant and impractical to replace all of our doorknobs in the house. We have updated the lighting in the house over the years and are now completely brass free since painting the exterior of the house, but the door knobs were still brass. I really like the look of brushed silver, so we went with that. It matches all of our interior fixtures too.

Well, I got to thinking, why couldn't I spray paint them the color I wanted? My husband was skeptical at first because door knobs are so handled, but I explained to him that the kind of paint I was going to get is just the stuff for the job!

It has primer in it, can be sprayed on wood, metal and even plastic and sprays at any angle. I bought several cans at Lowe's and got right to work.

Unscrew all of the hardware on your door. It's tedious, but make sure you do all of the pieces that you want covered so that it looks uniform and made that way including the screws. Also, keep the pieces together so you know what goes with what when its time to assemble again.

After the first few, I got smart and started doing them assembly line style in groups.

The key to this project is steel wool. Make sure you scuff up your door knobs with the steel wool to give it a good surface for the paint to stick to. I did some without the steel wool and while it did the job, I feel like the process went better with the scuffed up door knobs.

Also, do several light coats, rather than fewer heavy coats. It eliminates clumps, streaks and runs.

Although I didn't do these door knobs where I usually do, I recommend if you DIY and spray paint a lot, to have a painting station set up. We have one set up on the side of our house with an old table. The sun is only directly shining in the morning and it blocks a lot of wind. It's an old out door table with a hole in the center, which I often use to stand things up with as I am painting)

Be patient! Make sure the light coats dry in between coverages, and make sure you get all angles. Nothing is worse than getting your door knob all back together and seeing a brass spot in an awkward angle that you missed. Don't touch them until they are dry! You don't want to leave your finger prints in them.

When I put the first few back, I did some of them a little backwards and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't shut right. Trial and error. I would take a picture of it so you have a reference.

I did everything on the doors that were brass, and then bought new door stoppers in silver. You could reuse them, but ours were so bent up and needing replaced, for .98 each, it looked best this way. Plus, we no longer have crawlers who enjoy taking the white caps off and playing with them!

It really perks up the house in such a subtle way for next to nothing! Now we really need to repaint the doors and trim. They are desperately needing it!

7 minute frosting

2011-05-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was young, my mom used to make this really good frosting that you would want to just sit and eat alone! It tasted just like marshmallow cream.

So I was thinking about it the other day and called my mom for the name of the recipe. It's 7 minute frosting. To make it, you do it on top of the stove in a double broiler. Paula Dean has a recipe for it here.

Then I heard the best part about this recipe. My mom told me " I think you can make it in the microwave." Yes, yes I will!

So here's how I made the 7 minute frosting. You can put this on anything! Pound cake, chocolate cake, cupcakes, yum! It's so bad for you and is mostly pure sugar, but that doesn't really come as a surprise, does it?

MICROWAVED 7 MINUTE FROSTING

½ c. granulated sugar
¼ c. light karo syrup
2 T. water
1 t. of vanilla

Microwave 3½ minutes on high.

While that is cooking in microwave, beat 2 egg whites until stiff.

When above mixture has cooked 3½ minutes, pour slowly over egg whites.

Add 1 tsp. vanilla. Beat until desired consistency.

Make A Bike Basket

2011-05-16T06:03:00.006-07:00

Happy Monday! Any fun weekend projects happen? Cross a lot off your to do list?

We didn't compared to last weekend (we finished painting the exterior of our house last weekend) but check out this fun project for 5.00!

A month or so ago, my husband surprised me with a new bike. Even though I was perfectly fine with the bike I bought with babysitting money back in the 7th grade, he felt it was time for an upgrade. With the upgrade though also came with a baby seat on the back.

So as a family, we have been going on bike rides. It's fun but its also kind of a challenge trying to figure out where to put everything now that we no longer use a bike trailer. I was using a backpack I had made, but baskets are just cuter. But they are also kind of pricey! My sweet husband found an inexpensive one but it wasn't the cute one that I had in my head, so we didn't order it.

The other day, I drug the whole family up to the thrift store with me because I was looking for something else. He came walking up to me with this:

Hmm, that's sort of...not my taste. "But we can paint it!", he said. 5.00? Ok. let's give it a whirl.

So we took it home. All I could think of was getting those leaves off. But since they were super soldered onto the delicate wire, his solder gun didnt get hot enough and I didnt want the wire to get destroyed.

So while he painted it, I went inside and made a liner for it using burlap.

I didn't take pictures for a tutorial, because there are many different tutorials out there for a liner. I did have a bit more of a challenge with this one because of the way the basket narrows towards the bottom. But I figured it out and gave it a 4 inch...overhang? edge? fold over? Not sure what it's called, but I made it so that it covers those leaves! For the bottom, I added elastic instead of a drawstring, since burlap is so delicate once it's cut. The elastic could also be tighter drawn, but its nice and tight on the basket, so it's ok.

To attach, we used zipties through the basket onto the bars.

It looks like the basket was made for the bike!

Can't wait to take it for a spin!

Happy Creating!

My Coupon System

2011-05-13T16:14:00.004-07:00

Well first, let me say, I am by no means a "pro". I coupon for my family on a regular basis and I frequent blogs like deal seeking mom and money saving mom as well as local ones. Occasionally, I sign up for the fun freebies and samples but I am not a die hard with it, and often times miss the "good" give aways. But thats ok! What I save is still hundreds a month and it doesnt take me hours upon hours to do so!

I have tried couponing off and on since the birth of our first born. I started out with my accordian and tried to do it, but was just lost. I did what I could. I started to think it was cheaper just to buy sale and generic and quit.

After the birth of my second, my sister in law got me back into it. I started the binder method, and paid a coupon site to tell me what was on sale and how to match it up. It was good because it helped me to kind of get the hang of it, but then it was taking me hours and hours to sit and cut everything out, organize them, match it up, get rid of the expired ones, etc. Then I would hit multiple grocery stores and drug stores, scouting for items on sale and often times coming up short because they had already all been snatched up. So, I slowly quit.

I have always been frugal, so I would always look for bargains in anything we buy, but often times we would go without fancier items, never stock pile and run out often.

Now that we have 5 people in our house, I decided to once again get back into it. Here's the good news. This is the longest I have hung in there. I started again in January and am still going strong. It has really become a way of life for us. And no, I dont have rooms of stockpile items. I don't go all out and buy 5 papers a week. I dont even cut out all the coupons!

Couponing is something that I have found that you have to find what works for you individually. You can not compare your deals to other people's deals. Your lists, your needs and wants are just not the same as everyone else's. Your time is also not the same, and everyone is committed in a different way.

I will share here what I do for our family. Feel free to add what you do for yours!

I look at it now as a part time job. Two weeks ago, I went to my local grocery store and went in prepared. I took an hour or two the day before, made my list and pulled my coupons and STUCK TO THE LIST. I spent 65.00 and saved 127.00. I only go to one grocery store for two reasons: 1. I earn fuel points that gives me a discount when I reach a certain amount and 2. this one right now honors competitor coupons, already has low prices and increases manufacturer coupons to 1.00. Even when they no longer do those things, I still will only shop at that grocery store. It's most convenient. They will still have low prices and have great promotions. Also, because I have gone regularly for months now, I dont always have to go every week. I haven't gone since last week. AND the day after I saved 127.00 and spent 65, I ran in to get a few things....completely unprepared. You know, I spent 35.00 and saved 3? Yeah. ALWAYS go prepared! I was so mad at myself!!

(I also go to Walgreens and Target. I know you can do great things with CVS ecb's and I know that WalMart price matches but I prefer walgreens and target). See? I am not a pro. Haha!

On Sunday, I have a subscription to the local paper. I found that buying the paper in the store, I wasn't getting all of the inserts, I was spending more on the paper, and sometimes would forget to go buy the paper. I only buy Sunday and get Wednesday (the grocery ads) for free. It costs under 10.00 a month.

I also frequent coupons.com and even better, use swagbucks.com to print out my coupons. This way, I am getting "paid" in points whenever i redeem those coupons. I save up the points and receive amazon gift cards. So that means, sometimes I get paid in gift cards just for using my coupons! You have to print the coupons, and some stores don't take printed coupons, but I think I save the most money from my printed coupons in the long run.

To sign up for different manufacturer coupons and company newsletters and deals, make sure you have an email address ONLY for this. You get a lot of spam that fills your inbox really fast, and this is the best way to keep it all organized.

Check your mail! Since i started signing up for different freebies and samples, I get a lot more coupons this way.

Now how I store the massive amounts of coupons. This is where it is up to the couponer to decide on what works for them. If you prefer to be able to get to everything fast, have a lot of time to devote to it, and diligently keep up on it, then by all means, cut out all of the coupons and organize by section. My mind doesn't work that way, and I have made a way to do it for our family.

My binder is still used regularly. Buy one with a zipper so that it keeps everything inside. If you dont have time to organize, you arent spilling everything all over the place. Mine has the front pockets that I am able to keep scissors in for when I find a deal in the store and cut out that coupon needed.

Inside there are side pockets. I keep my ads in one pocket, my loose coupons that are needing to be organized, and my printable coupons in each pocket. It's not the most efficient way, but it works for me (usually I know what coupons I have printed out, so this is easiest for me)

For special store coupons, I use baseball card holders up front. This is easiest to grab before running into that specific store:

Right now, I also have my free item coupons in this sections. If I had more of them, I would give them their own sheet.

We are a very busy family and whether its best or not, we do eat on the run. I have a section for those coupons as well. (Today we went to arby's and for the cost of drinks, we each got a free chicken salad sandwich.) Restaurants like Chili's often have email promotions you can print out as well.

Now it get's a bit trickier.

I have page dividers for the three main stores we go to with their specific coupons:

I have special ones for specialty inserts, like Proctor and Gamble:

and I have ones for my manufacturers coupons by month:

I always label the top of the inserts so that when I am reading blogs that break down what coupons are where and by what date, its easiest to find them.

I have sections broken up by grocery areas as well, but thats a bit more neglected because I don't take the time to insert the loose coupons in their right places:

See the popcorn coupons? probably not because the picture isn't great. We won't use them because we don't eat popcorn like that, however, I do keep them on hand because if they are ever extremely cheap or free, we can donate items to our church's food pantry. Just because its super cheap or free doesn't mean you HAVE to get it, or you have to eat it. It's all about your family's personal interests and lifestyles. If you eat more natural or organic, there are deals out there, you just have to look for them. I also recommend participating in a local co-op if this is important to you. I have begun doing bountiful baskets for our family.

Also, if you are in the store and see something on clearance or on sale, and know you have a coupon, pull your cart over to the side and do a quick search through your binder. It might be kind of a hassle, but just ask yourself if it's worth buying and searching for. Remember, not buying it if its not needed is cheaper than getting a good deal!

So that's my quick (but very lengthy) run down of how I personally do coupons. Please feel free to ask questions or share your tips if you do anything easier!

The under 30.00 clubhouse

2011-05-11T16:17:00.000-07:00

Although this has been built for a couple of months, we still need to add a few things to it before it is finally complete. I thought I would go ahead though and talk about our "under 30.00 clubhouse"

A few months ago, I found out that my oldest was in sunday school upset one day because "he wanted to go buy wood at the store to build a clubhouse." At this point, we had no idea that these thoughts were going through his mind and then we even found out he had score a few dollar bills from our pastor to do it!

Well, my super fabulous husband decided to set to work to building the poor boy a clubhouse. We decided right away that this was going to be a very inexpensive project, and that it would be built from the cull rack wood at the home improvement store (you know, that great .51 cents a wood section? LOVE it.) and then "oops" paint from the paint sections.

Lucky husband of mine sent to work and one day stumbled upon 4 4x10 half inch mdf full sheets of wood for 1.00 total. We were extremely excited about this find because it was going to be the main body of the clubhouse. Seriously, 1.00?! How can you beat that!

Here it shows the sides, and how he left spaces between the side pieces for a little more ventilation inside.

So he and the boys would build it on their spare time and it was neat to see it going up. Remember this wood? Well, we still have crib pieces and one of the side pieces became a drawbridge, complete with a rope/pulley/lock system. They love that door.

Remember, all the paint used was from the oops sections. We thought it was a little more red, but thats ok, it can always be repainted. (these seats were supposed to be used as pillars, but are now used...as seats, or they could be used as bins for their stuff) They were bought at Ikea for 3.00 a piece.

For detailing, he took scrap pieces of wood and screwed them on the castle and spray painted black to distress

The top still needs a ladder to it and I keep toying around the idea of a shade

So many fun possibilities for this! Pennants on top, pillows inside for a reading area, little paintings on the walls, what a great space to get creative with!

Weekly Yard Sale "Frugal Finds"

2011-05-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my sister in law the other day about how I have been finding really good deals on the way home from taking my son to school and thought maybe it would be fun to do a weekly blog post on what I find! I have been trying to remember to have a bit of cash on me at the end of the week, and it's a little perk to taking my son to school.

I will do the last two weeks and go from there!

Two weeks ago, at 1 yard sale (I only hit ones that are on the way home, and I try not to go out of the way) I found:

a complete pirate ship set

building shapes

3 gallon ziplock bags of train tracks and a wooden train

interfacing, elastic (some of it was old and already tossed before picture taken) and zippers

Total Spent: 16.00

I thought these were great deals! The pirate ship set is probably the most played with toy right now along with their legos. Definitely worth 7.00

And then last week's finds wasn't as impressive but I will still share:

they were so excited for these because of the star wars legos. at first she wanted 5 but i was willing to ask for 3, she offered 2!

cheap clothes for Ellie that I can embellish and flare up

Total spent: 3.00

So there's what I have found over the last couple of weeks. To some, it may not be very impressive. My mother in law is a PRO at finding good stuff! I know the key is to hit a lot more than I am doing, but I think its a fun little way to perk up the weekend!

Happy Yard Sale finds!

School talk

2011-05-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

As we look into closing our very first school year, I have been reflecting on how much we have gone through as a family with having a school age child.

To some, sending off their child to school is something that they look forward to. In a way, I was excited for him of course, but I was also a nervous wreck too. I was about to send my baby, whom I have had the privilege to stay at home with for 5 years, teaching him what he knew at that point, instilling our values into him. I wanted to home school him so very badly, but also knew I needed to let go a bit. Yes, I admit to being a bit of a control freak.

When we got the call to the charter school he attends now, saying that there was an opening but they had to know immediately (with school starting in just a week), I knew in my heart that this was where he needed to go. My husband had attended the orientation and it was very difficult to even get him into the school, but once you have one child in, the rest of your children have reserved spots.

It was such an adjustment. We went from having family days Sunday through Tuesday and every other Wednesday because of my husband's schedule to rearranging a lot around the traditional school schedule, and he even attends half day kindergarten!

As he went, I watched him blossom and grow. He was really maturing in front of my eyes. He was being challenged, meeting new friends, and exercising that muscle of thinking. I knew at that point, I was committed to helping him in any way, picking up areas he might need help in, willing to even hire a math tutor and doing whatever it took to help him succeeed.

Check out this homework! Pretty impressive stuff!

So now, as we look toward him going to first grade, and attending school all day, I am a lot more confident in sending my baby to school. It's hard as a mama to do, but I know that his education is extremely important and it is exciting to watch him grow!

Ruffle Skirt Tutorial

2011-05-10T07:15:00.012-07:00

Well, nothing like a year late on this! Remember this skirt? How about a tutorial on it? We will call it "The Down and Dirty Toddler Ruffle Skirt".

Ok, this version is for my 12-18 month old, but you can adjust it to fit your own little one's size!

I used an XL old navy tshirt I picked up on clearance for this purpose. You can use any larger tshirt you have lying around too!

First, you will want the base of the skirt, which is also what you sew the waistband to and the ruffles onto. I use the bottom of the shirt because it has a hem on it. I cut it 9 inches wide x 13 inches long (cut through both layers of the shirt).

After you cut it, fold it over and cut a triangular shape off the sides to look like this:

Then I cut my waistband from the bottom section of the shirt. My little one's waist is 16-18 inches (she was sleeping so I couldnt measure her). I cut it 8 in wide x 6 in long (this is through both layers of the shirt). For this, the 6 inches long is good because once its folded over, its a nice wide comfortable 3 inch waist band. make sure you cut the hem off to eliminate extra bulk. The skirt ended up being a little big, so make sure you measure the waist first.

Next come your ruffle tiers. Since its a tshirts, there's no need to hem. That's the "dirty" part. You can, however, serge the edge or fold and and iron and sew, just adjust the material accordingly. Cut all the way through both layers of the shirt.

The bottom tier used the entire section of the shirt: 24 x 4 inches wide
Middle tier was three inches smaller: 21x 3 1/2 inches wide
Top tier was 18 x 3 1/2 inches wide

Make sure you have a new blade on your cutter or super sharp scissors to give a nice clean line since you aren't hemming edges.

All of your skirt pieces have been cut! Now let's sew.

Pin right sides together on base of skirt and sew sides with serger or zig zag stitch.

Turn skirt base right side out and iron. You are now ready to sew on ruffles.

There's many ways to do ruffles. I set my tension to 9 (the highest) and my stitch width to 5 (the longest). This gathers for me. I also have a ruffler foot and a gathering foot, or you can do it by hand.

Sew 1/4 inch down all the way around the top of the ruffle and gather.

Then, the easiest way to keep your ruffle on straight is to mark with a washable marker on the base of the skirt:

Pin onto line, using the side seams to match up to side seams of base. I pinned my ruffle 3 1/2 inches up from bottom of base skirt.

Readjust your machine settings and sew on:

Now take your middle tier. Pin right sides together, sew up side (or sides depending on how it was cut) turn right side out and repeat the same process as the bottom tier. Mark your line about 2 inches from bottom tier, gather, pin and sew on.

Repeat this whole process for the top tier.

Now you should have all three tiers sewn on!

My skirt now had a lot of extra material on the top because I had originally made it 13 1/2 inches long. Cut off that extra material if you have it. otherwise, if your top tier lines up perfect with the top of the base of the skirt, you are ready for waistband!

Now sew waistband side shut to make a tube:

Fold over and iron:

Now mark the center on both sides of waistband for a pin point reference to pinning onto skirt. Then pin on the waistband onto the skirt putting it on like this (make sure the top edge of the base skirt lines up with the rough edges of the waistband:

Sew on a good 1/2-1 inch down, making sure to catch the top of the ruffle edge:

Iron skirt

You can top stitch the waistband or leave as is.

I linked it up!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T17:33:00.001-07:00

Hope you Mamas had a great Mother's day and were spoiled lots and lots!

My boys took me out on a date to chikfila! I love all the fun activities that they do there for families! We had a horse drawn carriage, and even a massage while the boys crafted!

A picture with my girl before the date:

At our date, the boys opened doors, pulled out the chair, and even paid!

Only my son would want chicken noodle soup in 100 degrees. They gave the moms a ton of food, so I shared with them. They got kids meals.

On Saturday, we spent the whole day painting the house, and I was exhausted. When I went to bed though, I found this:

And on Sunday, my husband brought me breakfast while I was getting ready for church and gave me flowers and my favorite drink:

After church, we were treated to a lunch made by my mother in law, and the mamas even got gifts!

But the very best part? Coming home after going out for a bit with my sister in law (we had free money to jc penney and free sonic drinks!) to find that my husband had cleaned the kitchen, caught up on the dishes from a busy weekend and even mopped the floor.

Definitely a spoiled mama!

romper outfit tutorial

2011-05-07T06:55:00.001-07:00

I am loving all the adorable rompers out there! If I thought I could pull it off for myself, I totally would. But alas, I will leave that look to my daughter.

I combined an old pair of shorts for the pattern with a pillowcase top design into a one piece with a little belt tie. I did it during naptime and it went pretty fast. Since I put this together on my own, it's not perfect, but its perfect for her. I did it in a 12-18 month size, and if you'd like to adjust to fit your own needs, or use this tutorial, then let's go! If the pictures aren't large enough in the post, I think clicking on them will enlarge it.

Get an old pair of shorts that you like the length of. These were actually 6 month size shorts but they fit really well for her. Make sure you leave a seam allowance, a couple of inches at the top for your casing and a good inch at the bottom for casings as well.

I didn't take a picture, but also, cut 2 11inch strips of 1/4 elastic for the leg openings and 18 inches of elastic for waist.

Cut two short pieces on the fold:

Now for your top pieces. Cut two on the fold: 12 1/2 L and 8 inches wide:

Keep folded and cut a J shape about 3x3 opposite side of fold for both top pieces This is the arm holes. Open it up and you should have this:

For the two ties, cut 1 piece that is 3 1/2 inches wide on 45 inch fabric at fold, and cut another 3 1/2 inches wide by 7 inches on fold:

now let's work on the top portion!

fold 1/4 inch and then fold again on the arm hole portions and sew. Do this all four times.

Now for your top casing. Fold over 1/4 inch and iron, then fold again two inches. Sew. Repeat for other top piece.

This is what you should now have for both top pieces:

Pin both top pieces right sides together and sew zig zag down sides below arm holes.

Now for the tie:

fold right sides together and iron then sew shut on the long part only.

Using a safety pin, turn right side out.

Iron flat.

Fold ends over.

Then fold in a triangular fold. iron and sew.

Now taking a safety pin, pull through both casings.

Tada!

Top portion complete.

Now let's do those bottom pieces.

Take your two bottom pieces, unfold and pin right sides together. sew longer part down to curve.

At this point, fold top of shorts 1/4 inch and then another 2 inches and iron:

open shorts and sew from the curve down to create leg holes.

now fold and iron 1/4 inch and then another 1 inch for both legs to create casings. sew, leaving an inch or so open for elastic.

insert 11 inch elastic piece with safety pin

Sew elastic shut

then sew casing closed.

Repeat for other leg.

Now for the button holes. You can skip this part if button holes give you the heebies, but it definitely adds to the outfit with the tie. Or just sew the tie right on!

Here we go. Open up your top fold from earlier, and below the iron fold you will add your button holes in the center of the shorts. Sorry I didnt get a picture, but here's where the button holes go.

Now sew all the way around after you refold it, leaving an opening for your elastic. See the button holes peaking there in the front?

We are going to attach the top to the bottom piece. Set your machine to gather or just do it by hand. Doing it by hand can be easier because its easier to maneuver.

Sew or gather all the way around the top.

Turn shorts right side out, and slip on the top inside out like this: the bottom of the top should be matching up to the top of the bottoms. Wow, that sounds confusing!

Now adjust your gather so that its the same width as the bottoms and pin. make sure the sides are all lined up and its all straight. Sew all the way around.

Now add elastic to your waist casing like we did the legs. sew elastic ends together and sew casing shut.

Turn entire outfit right side out. You should have the main body finished (this picture is minus the elastic. i got ahead of myself!)

Now, do the tie from the 14 inch strip you cut earlier. fold, turn right side out, iron flat and sew ends. Then thread through button holes and tie.

You are set! all finished!

You can also add ruffles, pockets, and other embellishments! Here's one with a ruffle on top:

Super cute and easy too!

15 dollar mirror transformation

2011-05-06T09:11:00.001-07:00

Last week, I saw some really fun acid mirrors on UCreate that got my brain working to find a place to use a new mirror in our home.

Then I stumbled upon a 15 dollar mirror on clearance from 70.00 at Tuesday Morning and thought it would be perfect for the project! But then I couldn't really think of a place to put it so I left it and moved on.

Since we have been rearranging our daughter's room, my husband decided that the closet (which had mirror doors) should be more of a play area and took the mirror doors out. Hmm, that means there was no more mirrors in her room. Light bulb!

The next day, I rushed back over to Tuesday morning and made a beeline to the back of the store to see if they still had it. I was pretty excited about it and snatched it right up. Grabbed some spray paint on the way home and got to work. I decided to skip the acid mirror process because I wanted something a little more simpler in her room, but its definitely a possibility later on down the road.

Here's the before:

Hard to see here but besides it being completely disgusting and had stickers all over the glass part, there were knicks and scratches in the frame. I cleaned it up, then taped off for painting.

Did a couple of coats to get it nice and smooth.

Then hung it up. Easy way to update a mirror and make it to suit your needs.

And as for the closet....here's how it looks now. I got the fabric in the red tag which was an additional 50% off at JoAnn's. Bought 2 1/2 yards which made it 8 dollars. It has a pretty monotone striped design on it and its a nice weight. We put a spring rod inside the frame and then tied it back when we want it open. It really transformed the look of the whole room.

Make an old dresser look like new

2011-05-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

Our youngest is growing like a week, which means she needs lots of room to play and mommy needs lots of storage! I have been busy rearranging her room to fit her needs.

I took the boys' old dresser that was from Ikea that they had outgrown as a pair

and used a deglosser on it:

Have you heard of this great stuff? It's so nice! No need to pull out the sander, this stuff is rubbed on with a coarse cloth in a circular motion and does the job a sander does. I did a couple of coats, just enough to get the stain to stick.

Then, I used stain in a spray can. AMAZING. no brush strokes! We have used minwax before on the toy box and shelves, so we bought the same color of stain in the spray form (red mahogany)

It took four coats of spraying (1 1/2 cans of stain) but the amount of coats you apply is all on personal preference.

Here's the first coat. I was freaking a bit, but my husband kept assuring me that its a process.

Just make sure you rub it down with a fine steel wool in between coats to get rid of the bumps and bubbles.

Also, allow for a couple of days for drying time. Beautiful!

I still need to line the drawers. I am going to mod podge fabric as liners. But for now, I love it! I also kept the changing table pad for the top to use as a changing station for now. As she gets older, she can use the top to store her fun little stuff.

Make new earrings from old jewelry

2011-05-04T15:59:00.000-07:00

I have been loving all of the cute cabachon type jewelry I have been seeing for awhile. There's just so many possibilities from it!

I was going through my jewelry and saw this bracelet that I had but never wear and figured as earrings, they would be worn a lot more!

I took two of the roses pieces off, glued them onto some blank posts I picked up at the craft store for a dollar.

Tada! A new pair of earrings that will get worn a lot more than the bracelet did!

I want to make more!!

Pattern Weights

2011-05-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

I am loving Pinterest. So many fun ideas, inspirations and beautiful things to look at!

One thing I recently saw on there were these pattern weights. They were adorable, inexpensive and practical, so I made some too!

I went to Lowe's and got different weight and size nuts and washers (the same day I bought the nuts for the hexagon bracelet). I don't really care to go to Lowe's, so I have to make it worth my while when I am dragged there :)

Then used ribbon scraps, hot glue and fray check to make my own:

I have a pattern that has a lot of pieces that I can't wait to put these to use with!

Hexagon Nut Bracelet

2011-05-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday! This is a strange day for me. For the past ten years I have known my husband, he has always had Mondays off. But he had an exciting opportunity at work that I am so proud of him for and starting today begins a new schedule for at least three months. There's a bit of an adjustment but so far so good. My laundry is being done earlier, my errands have more company since I brought the kids along (I am trying to look at this positively!), ya know. But the kids definitely need to adjust their sleeping schedule since they are now along for the ride with the school drop off. We can do it!

This weekend, I made a really fun and inexpensive bracelet from this tutorial at because Im addicted. What's really cool is I did a search and found this necklace with the same idea for 325.00! Since I am feeling lazy, here's a picture straight from my phone of my version

I bought size 6 hexagon nuts in a 22 pack for 1.18 and household twine for 2.50 at Lowes. My husband says it looks like a giant zipper. I just like it! Try it for yourself!

Now off to find out how to take gum off skin. My toddler has it stuck all over her big baby belly! (Scared to find out where the rest of it is!)

Cleaning Baseboards

2011-04-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

My baseboards really need repainting. Eventually we are going to replace them with something different, but in the mean time, I still need to keep up with cleaning them. I can't avoid the black scuff marks on them without repainting (Mr Clean only does so much after all) but today I was cleaning up and noticed these are perfect for the task:

Lysol Dual Action Complete Clean Wipes

One side has fibers to scrub with and the other side is just for wiping up. These are brilliant! They got even those dustier hard to clean spots right up!

Lysol didn't ask me to write about them, I just liked them that much!

Quilt Squares Outfits

2011-04-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

Recently, I received a stack of quilt squares from my mother in law that she had picked up at a yard sale. Knowing how much cutting, ironing and sewing that went into these squares, I wanted to really use them so that they had a purpose...something different than just a quilt.

Here is how I used them:

a Tshirt dress from a smaller onesie my daughter had outgrown:

a dress from a pattern I have used before:

and a market skirt from MADE.

The dress and the market skirt also uses valances as trim pieces, strap pieces and casings! Sometimes when I am sewing, all I can think about is the Sound of Music. I make a lot of clothes from curtains!

Quilt squares have endless possibilities!

Burlap Bridal Shower

2011-04-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, I threw a bridal shower for my sister in my home. The theme was burlap with green and white accents. I loved the feel of the setting from it!

Here are some high lights:

Centerpiece in the kitchen. I loved how this looked. Vases borrowed from my SIL that I added vinyl to *vases from ikea, burlap runners, table clothes, doilies from the dollar store, moss spread through out and green gerber daisies

Favors were Popcorn Indiana Indulgent popcorn. YUM! It had a green grosgrain ribbon, vintage paper scallop shape layered with a green circle and vinyl bird sticker. My mom made the water bottle labels as well. The tubs were from the dollar store and had vinyl birds.

I love white dishes and clear glass dishes. I want to redo the kitchen in this theme! Brides maids and groom's mom helped with food. I contributed the chicken salad sandwiches.

Sisters and Mom

I decorated frames from the dollar store with burlap and moss after painting them with antique white paint and sealing them with a spray. I used their engagement pictures in the frames.

The banner said M + O

Gift table had white table cloth and burlap runner

Some of the guests

Another shot of the favors

These were the prizes. Wine bags from Target on clearance for .25 a piece with burlap and green gingham ties and a bird vinyl.

Bridal Sash worn for the shower made with freeze paper stencil technique. the sash was made from muslin and frayed. I will do a tutorial and pattern for this sash soon!

Pom Poms made from pattern paper and tissue paper and a towel cake for the kitchen. Also added was the burlap table runner

Thanks for looking! :)

Snappy Toddler Repurposed Outfit

2011-04-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

Hi out there! It's been a month since I posted last, and a super busy one at that! I have a lot of fun stuff to post on and catch up with but I'd like to start with this little tutorial of sorts!

Since I found out I was having a girl, I noticed that little girl shorts are sold WAY too short! It drives me up the wall. This year, I have taken matters into my own hands. I have been making her shorts! Even her denim ones!I have a lot of extra left over baby clothes that my little one has outgrown. I have been busy altering existing items to accommodate the rising temperatures! But that is a whole separate post!

I thought it would be cute to make a whole little play outfit from left over baby items. Upcycling clothes and blankets into something that fits her now is the best way to go!

Do you have stuff like this laying around?

Great! You can do this too!

For the top, I used the Prudent Baby Snappy Toddler free pattern. I will admit it would have gone a lot faster/smoother if I hadnt been working with knit, but I really like the results. I like longer tops, so I did lengthen the top all the way down to the bottom of the 8 1/2x11 paper printout and then some. I think its a good length for my tall girl.

I used the pre-existing hem of a baby blanket for the hem of the shirt:

For the collar, I wanted something a bit more solid, so I used the sleeve of a 1.00 turtleneck I bought at Walmart on clearance just to cut up (and there will be another post on uses for this shirt as well!)

Great! now your pieces should look like this:

See the arm holes though? Needed some binding to finish the edges, so I took my seam ripper and took the binding off part of the scrap piece of the blanket.

Pin the binding to the arm holes and sew on.

Now once you get to this stop, follow the rest of the directions from Prudent Baby!

Next is the shorts.

I used a pair of 6-9 month baby pants and cut off my desired amount. This pair of pants had a ruffle attached to the bottom hem, which made it easy to finish the edges.

Pin and sew on cuff, then top stitch down. Repeat.

Once that is completed, your outfit is finished! I put it on my very unwilling model who is also lightening quick, and then chased her around trying to get a decent picture.

The outfit was easier to make than that task!

Mickey Mouse Birthday for a four year old!

2011-03-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, my sweet little guy turned four! He requested a mickey themed birthday party four days before the party was scheduled. On a small budget and a short amount of time, it's so easy to throw together a nice little party!

First up, was the mickey balloons that Daddy surprised the birthday boy with (and he only went in for one balloon. my husband is a total kid at heart):

We rented a small pavilion at a local park and did a bbq there. It was so easy to have the party at the park and to decorate a small space!

To do the mickey stickers, I cut a bunch out with vinyl and applied where needed. I had left over red buckets from a spider man party, and the red and yellow paper I purchased at Dollar Tree. Besides BBQ food, we also had red and yellow drinks (kool aid and lemonade). We could have done the mickey cheese shapes and other mickey foods but we kept it simple.

Each utensil bundle had a spoon and a fork of black and yellow and the red napkins were tied with yellow polka dot fabric and a black paper mickey head.

The banner was cut out on red poster board, and then the mickey heads were black poster board. the disney font that spelled out "happy birthday" was found here and cut out on yellow vinyl.

For favors, we thought it would be fun to do a pinata and the kids fill up their goody bags with the pinata "guts"! This was the high light of the party for these little ones! I used the tutorial over at At Second Street and it really took hardly any time to put it together. The entire cost of the pinata to make it including the bags and the contents to fill it was only 13 dollars and I got everything at Target! They were having a great clearance sale on all different types of party favors and I bought a bag of the mixed tootsie rolls and also a box of fruit snacks. The wine bags were only .24 cents a piece, so I bought a bunch of those and put a red ribbon and a mickey head on those as well. Easy Peasy!

The birthday boy was the one to break it open!

I think my favorite of the day was the birthday boy's outfit:

(He had on his ears too, but safety before fashion!)

The shirt was from Target and I painted the hand on using freezer paper. How many fingers does Mickey have? Four!

The shorts were made from a clearance tshirt I had also picked up at target for only 1.25. I used a pair he already had here and made my pattern. Then I sewed on Mickey's "buttons" with a yellow tshirt scrap and then sewed the shorts together. Quick, and very inexpensive, plus super comfortable for him to play in that day as well.

For the cake, we went simple and did Mickey Cupcakes. I got the idea from Disney Family. The red cupcake liners were purchased at Target in a primary color pack in the baking aisle. I cheated and used store bought frosting and had sprinkles with it that I rolled them in.

Sometimes, less is more. We enjoyed this birthday a lot!

Happy Birthday, Jackson! Hope it was your best yet!

Ruffled Tights

2011-03-12T17:22:00.001-07:00

I saw this idea on pinterest and decided to whip up my own. I had the supplies on hand and it was such a quick little project!

I used an old pair of tights, cut off the feet part stretched leg onto sewing machine and then sewed on the lace row by row until it filled up.

Not sure about the boots with it, but I adore the ruffles! I might hike them up a bit more and just put mary janes on her like the picture showed.

and the model is even cuter ;)

Ruffle Cardigan Tutorial

2011-03-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

As usual, I get busy, distracted or bored and move on and forgot to post the tutorial I had promised.

I was on pinterest tonight and stumbled across this tutorial that reminded me I had never posted it!

So if you'd like to make a ruffle cardigan, this tutorial is the perfect way to do so and I don't feel bad not posting the one I was going to do! ;)

Let It Rain

2011-03-03T14:32:00.002-07:00

Last night, the kids and I were driving and a song came on that asks God to "let it rain" and to "open the flood gates of Heaven".

My oldest asked me why would we sing a song to ask God for it to rain? It boggled his mind why we would want it to rain if we don't need it. I explained to him that when we sing that song, we are asking God to show us His love, and that its to "pour down on us" of how much He loves us, and that we feel it. I explained to him that opening the flood gates would be a rushing out of love, like water running really fast.

Today, God answered a prayer, one that has been on my mind for two years at least. Sometimes, I feel like when I pray for something, when it's not answered right away, or the way I want it to be, that it gets discouraging. Last night, I wrote a journal entry in a book I have that was almost two years to the date of a previous entry dealing with the same problem. I prayed about it, seeking to find an answer. I woke up this morning, praying, thinking, seeking. God always sends a message at the right time, because during a conversation today, He gave me an answer on how to deal with it. Although I still don't know what He is trying to teach me through this, I learned one important thing that I think we don't realize. Just because God says to give it to Him and He will help us through, does not mean at that point dealing with the problem is easy! Maybe this is just totally obvious to you, but it was a giant light bulb to me. I always think, "Well, I gave it to God. Why am I still dealing with it? He didn't answer that prayer." Then, like the song, I saw His glory. I felt His love. The problem won't go away over night, but thank You, Lord for helping me through it. Today, I felt You rain down Your love, and I felt the flood gates open.

Ruffle Cardigan

2011-02-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I drew up a pattern to make this ruffle cardigan to do a tutorial! All I need to do is tweak it in a few spots (mostly the back) and I will add it here with step by step directions. We have a bunch of sickies in the house still (me included) but I am hoping there will not be too much of a delay.

Here's a sneak peek!

Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors

2011-02-19T16:16:00.000-07:00

I know it seems like all I do is sew anymore, but I really do other things too! Since I still really enjoy scrapbooking and love some of those fun vintage trends on pages right now, I was so excited to see that Martha Stewart makes fringe scissors now!

I was planning on ordering them, because its a lot easier than taking my crew to Michael's (since I knew they sold Martha Stewart) but decided to wait until my next amazon order (I buy my laundry detergent among other things on amazon :)).

Last night, the baby and I snuck out of the house for a bit to escape the sickness that has taken over our family. Stalling the inevitable, we walked around Joann's until we had seen everything. The last place we walked around was the greeting cards, and low and behold, do you know what we stumbled upon? A Martha Stewart line. Maybe this isn't new there, but it sure was new to me! I got even more excited when I saw the fringe scissors, on SALE! Score! I may have even done a happy dance.

I really think there are a lot of possibilities with these fun and funky scissors. I love the look of festooning and now with these, I can make my own!

So many possibilities! What else can you use these for? :)

So I was cleaning out the baby's closet...

2011-02-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

getting rid of the clothes that no longer fit (that's always really difficult for me to do!) and I realized that about half of her clothes that fit now are handmade by me. I hung up the handmade ones and took a picture:

How cool is that?

Prudent Baby Pretty Party Dress

2011-02-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

Don't you love free patterns? I always think its so generous and cool!

I found this one recently over at Prudent Baby and since it was a size that is perfect for us right now, I thought it would be a fun Saturday sewing project!

I lengthened the sleeves quite a bit to make it a 3/4 length sleeve, skipped the cuff and also lengthened the dress a lot (I have a long legged little one who is off the charts in height and also 13 months old). I think if I had made it the pattern length, it might have worked as a tunic instead.

She loves her purses. And what party dress isn't complete without a sequin purse?

Patching up those jeans part II

2011-02-09T15:44:00.001-07:00

Over the summer, I posted about patching jeans. Although they worked great, my knobby knee-ed boy has now holed up four pairs of school jeans, leaving him down to one or two good pairs. I love creative and fun patches, but I wanted to tone it down a bit for school. I had bought a bunch on sale, because his school dress code is either school uniform (only way he can wear shorts) or jeans without holes. So it was time to patch them up so that I wasn't having to wash every other day.

My husband was fortunate enough to have such a sweet grandma that would always patch his jeans up for him. Even when we were dating, he would work on cars, rip his pants out and send them down to Grandma, who would patch them up so sturdy and nice for him again. I thought I would patch Jaden's up using the same method that she used.

The challenging part between doing my husband's pants and doing my son's is the size difference. It is a LOT easier to put pants on through the sewing machine from an adult than it is a skinny pant leg. I wrestled and sweated and pricked fingers and groaned, but I did it!

Here's how the whole process works:

Gather thread, recycled denim for patches, sewing machine, scissors ands jeans to mend.

I chose a bunch of different colors so I could match the thread up a bit to the jeans I was mending. The bobbin color doesn't matter if you only sew on the right side

The denim that you are using as patches also do not matter in color because it will be inside of the jeans, unseen.

Now cut a patch out thats bigger than your hole:

turn jean leg inside out, and pin patch over hole, making sure it covers all the hole and the weak material.

Turn leg right side out. This is what you should now see:

Next, place pant leg on machine. Its tough, and it's tight. I don't know if I would have been able to do a pair smaller than his 5t pants.

Set machine to a zig zag stitch and stitch in rows as close as possible above, over and below hole. Your finished product should look like this:

Turn leg inside out again, remove pins and carefully trim patch.

Finished! Congrats! You just saved yourself at least 10 (for a cheap pair) dollars! And really, with the right color thread, its a great fix. Its hardly noticeable, especially when caught early. Here's the first one I did, the hole is a lot larger and the thread is lighter, but it still works. Its also super messy sewing. Doesn't have to be perfect! But I do think this shows the final results better when knowing how to sew the patch on.

The other two ways that I mended his jeans were to take large denim patches, cut into squares and sew on front as typical patches. I did it in a different color to give it a bit of variety.

The last way I mended his jeans was on the bottom of the pant leg. I buy his jeans long and cuff them so thats he can grow into them, but then he walks on them anyway and puts big holes in them. I cut the frayed and holey mess and sewed in a new hem using another old pair of jeans that had to match in order to blend in. Good as new!

Doing this entire project saved a pair of old navy jeans, two children's place jeans and a pair of target jeans. Success!

Dress tutorial coming soon :)

2011-02-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

So maybe I am kind of a nerd, but every Saturday practically since she a couple of months old, I have loved to try to make it a goal to make Ellie a dress for church on Sunday. Whether or not she wears it that week (because she has cute store bought clothes too!) doesn't matter as much. Sometimes, I design it myself, sometimes I take something I have bought and copied it, and sometimes I will use a pattern. Its been fun thinking of new things, using fabric up that I have on stash (I rarely buy) and challenging myself to learn new things!

This Saturday, I used up some velvet I had here. I took two different dress ideas and combined them into one. The whole time I was sewing, I kept telling myself to go get the camera to make a tutorial but since I was kind of winging it, I didn't feel like I should write down the process. I think this almost every time, and then regret it. If I followed through with those thoughts, I think i would have a ton of tutorials up! Argh!

So this time, I am going to go ahead and remake it so that I can do a tutorial. ;) It won't be anything fancy, but I love when people share their ideas and processes, why wouldn't I want to do the same?

Here is a sneak peek!

swing sets, forts and boys, oh my!

2011-02-03T11:01:00.001-07:00

For a couple of years now, we have been perusing around for a swing set like the ones that CSN stores sell. There are so many great options to choose from!

We love the neighborhood parks and use them frequently, but it would be nice sometimes for them to have one of those cool swing sets to play in while they are in the backyard.

Instead of a swing set though, as we can't figure out how we would put one in the backyard the way we had designed it amongst the super cool sand box and areas for bikes and grass to run in, our oldest has been begging for a handmade clubhouse.

Stay tuned for the finished results! (as we are also!)