Come Fly with Me

When our little buddy was having his airplaun birthday party, I scurried the internet to find something special to make for him. 

Thanks to One Pretty Thing and Sew Fearless, this is what a came out with!

 

A cute and cuddly little airplane. Very boyish and very snuggly. It was quite easy to make and I even got to learn about the Invisible stitch. 

According to our buddy's mommy, he calls it Rockie airplane and when he leaves his room he will say, "bye bye Rockie airplane" Sweet little buddy!!

Take Me Home, Country Road

My little Simon is totally into cars lately. And everything is a road, the carpet, the wall, my head, the dog, anything. Then I had one of those " I could MAKE something" type of moments. And in one day, this is what I got. 

 

I made a little road!

 

Even Finn McMissile is taking a drive on the country road! 

I used a piece of denim that I had in my fabric box. Hubby got into this one and helped draw the road. It's awesome how creative he is and helpful when it's something for his sons!

Then, I mixed some textile medium with some black paint and started painting the road.

 

After the black paint dried, I cut the tip off of a sponge brush and used it to stamp the white median.

Again, I used textile medium with the white paint. Using the medium allows the mat to be washed without the paint being washed off. 

For some extras, I added the little pond, some bushes and a few trees. If you're really creative and artsy, you can make a city road with cars and buildings. 

And you're done! 

See the blur? It's because he's racing his car around.

Here's little brother enjoying it. Today we got out the cows and bears and had a blast!

The final step that I have yet to do, is to put a red bias tape binding around for a nicer look. Another great thing is that you can just roll it up to store it away. I'm very excited about this ad the play that my boys will have with it. Hopefully together and not fighting :)

VROOM VROOM!!!

Fitted Bed Sheet Skirt

What!? Bed sheet?!? Skirt?!? 

YES! I have seen so many awesome maxi skirts around. They're so different than just regular long skirts. And I want one.  However, I'm a pretty cheap person and $18-$25 is a bit much for me for a single skirt. Jersey knit fabric to make would end up costing me just as much. So I decided to visit my local Goodwill. I found a gray fitted sheet and a pink flat sheet, both jersey knit. I paid $4.25! So here's my first skirt! 

Here we go!

First cut the corners of the fitted sheet so it lays flat. (sorry I didn't get a picture of this)  It's a lot easier to work with.  Next, fold the sheet in half lengthwise. Grab a skirt that you really love and lay it over the sheet.

Make sure the top of the skirt lies where the elastic of the sheet is. This will be your waist line. WooHoo for no extra sewing and not messing with elastic! I have to insert here: My husband was reading the bed as I began, and it was his idea to use the elastic to my advantage. Go hubby! 

 Then, cut all around giving your self about a 1/2 inch for sewing. More on the bottom so you have flexibility on the length. Too long is better than too short! 

Then, all you have to sew are the two sides. And that's it! You'll be at our machine for no more than 10 minutes! And you're done!

The great thing about this fabric is that you don't have to finish the bottom. There are some imperfections here and there, but nothing too noticeable. That's another great thing about this fabric! From start to end, it was 25 minutes to make, after my lovely tornadoes went to bed, of course :)

I've worn this skirt all day and it is oh so comfy! Stay tuned for the long pink maxi skirt. Even if it flops, I'll still post it for critical purposes. HA!

Button Bracelet

I've seen these around online before and wanted to try my hand at one. It was amazingly easy and not so expensive to make. I had the elastic on hand and the little bag of buttons I got at Walmart for about $2.

It was all hand sewn and the whole thing took about 30-45 (interrupted) minutes! The bag of buttons I got only had 4 colors and varieties. It would be really neat to get a bag of really random buttons and see what turns out. Also, if you have a little button collection, this would also be a great project. 

Happy hand sewing!!

Into Dresses

I never really used to be a dress wearer. I was more of a skirt girl. Mostly because I didn't like the way I looked in dresses. But then, I changed my mind. I found a few dresses that were really nice and now it seems that's all I want to wear. However, dresses are pretty pricey. So I went the "make my own" route. Equally hard. Until I found an amazing and super easy pattern. And best of all, it was on sale for $.99! WooHoo!!! So here are 3 dresses I've made from that pattern.

This one was exciting. The top portion is a remnant I found a while ago but didn't know how to use it. The bottom part was also a remnant that was on super sale. Altogether, this dress was about $3!

This one was slightly modified. Instead of sewing the upper portion, I just used an old white long sleeve shirt. I cut the bottom half off, shortened the sleeves, and changed the neckline. The green part was also a remnant. With the leftover bottom half of the shirt, I made pockets for the dress. This in all cost about $5 to make.

This fabric was not a remnant. But I had bought it with a coupon months ago and just never used it. This dress is also sleeveless but I like it better with a little cardi.

HERE is the McCall's pattern that I used. I made some modifications:

• I didn't use the skirt pieces that it gave, I just measured my own hips :) 
• Also, the neckline on the bodice was a little lower than I like so I cut it about 1 and 1/2 inches higher on the gray dress than the brown dress.
• For the bodice, instead of ironing and sewing a small seam on the neck and sleeves (curves are so hard) I cut two pieces for the front, and two for the back. I sewed them right sides together on the neck and sleeves and turned them inside out. This gave a much neater seam and also added an extra layer. The material I used was pretty thin. 

The material has to be a stretch fabric only like jersey which is a pretty tricky material to work with. The pattern says it only takes an hour, but honesty, your first time will take a lot longer. Plus, if you're sewing machine goes on the fritz, it will take you all day! grrr. HA!

Happy Dress Making!!!

Halter Top Bathing Suit Transformation

We're going on a beach trip this weekend! Woohoo! And I scored this bathing suit top at the end of last season for $5! Awesome! However, halter top is all the rage and you can't find a nice looking regular strap suit anywhere. And being a little more well endowed, shall we say, a halter top is a pain in the neck....literally. So my brain started working. Can I turn this halter top into and over-the-shoulder strap suit? YES!!

First to Joann's. I found these metal bathing suit hooks. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the package. They're in the aisle with all the other hooks and brackets. At this point my brain is still working trying to figure out if this will work.

First, sew a small piece of ribbon about 2 inches ad folded in half onto the back of the suit. I zig-zag stitched numerous times back and forth for more security. Of course it's preferable to have a color that coordinates with the suit but I amazingly didn't have black.

I didn't have pictures of the next step. Thread the strap through the loop of the hook. Have someone help you pull the straps to where it's most comfortable and supporting in the front. Loop the end back towards the top and sew the end to the strap again using a continuous zig-zag stitch. I know that sound confusing but you'll get it once it's in front of you. 

And this is what you get. I would have modeled it for you but...um...yeah:) I like it a lot better and it's so much more comfy.

By the way, the metal hook was only $1.50! woohoo!

Easter Mommy Skirt

I love matching for Easter! It's one of my favorite things to do! And my hubby is such a good sport to wear whatever color I make, whether it is a tie or a bow tie. The hardest part is a skirt for me. There are so many great tutorials out there but my biggest hurdle was always "how do I get that thing over my not-so-small hips?" Well, I found an awesome tutorial from Sewing a Straight Line. The instructions were very easy to follow and even came with VIDEO. I added some lace at the bottom to give it a little extra kick. And guess what??? I used a BED SHEET! HA! I saved a ton on fabric costs. The bed sheet was enough for my skirt, both of the rompers for the boys, and hubby's tie, and then some!

This was no joke, such an easy skirt to make and not only did it fit nicely, it was oh so comfy. It took me more than an hour because I've got two amazing and awesome tornadoes running around. But other than that, I'm sure it would take only an hour.

Hope you all had a lovely Easter! 

Look Who's Crafty

Being a HUGE Wonder Woman fan and all things DC comics, I was very happy to see that even Wonder Woman makes time for crafts!

Felt Advent Wreath

I've been meaning to post this. I made the boys a felt advent wreath to use during the week. They love getting to "light" the candles!

Another Turkey Craft

Simon's tissue paper turkey. One of my favorites. He needed LOTS of help.

Today's Fall Craft

A fall tree made from different kinds of colored noodles.

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A Thanksgiving Craft

Simon's hanprint turkeys!

The Dynamic Duo

Isaac decided long ago that he wanted to be Batman for Halloween and that Simon would be Robin. Then hubby decided that he wanted classic blue and gray Batman as opposed to all black Batman. My wheels started turning. I love making their Halloween costumes but these might be too lofty. Then hubby found these costumes online. They were too expensive so I used them as a pattern to look at. Here's how they turned out.

Here's the internet image....
and here's what I made. The mask moved as we tried to take pictures.


Here's Robin...
and my little Robin.
I'm really happy with out they turned out. It was a labor of love!

Isaac also decided what he wanted mami and daddy to be. Lucky for him, we already had the costumes made from years ago! We're HUGE fans!
Justice League forever!!!

A Fall Craft

Isaac's family tree.

"Fall"ing Back

I'm back. No excuses or reasons. But I'm gonna recommit myself not only to crafting but to blogging about my crafting. However, I wouldn't expect a tutorial any time soon. Just gonna be sharing what I've been working on.

Take a walk around my Autumn house with me.....

My mantel with fabric pumpkins
My square leaf wreath for the back door, made last year
Leaf candles, also previously made
A bowl full of mums leftover from my wreath
A leaf banner for the mantel
These are on the piano. If you look closely, I etched them with our monogram.
Newly made fall valances
Mum flower ball and plaque
My fall front step with monogrammed pumpkin.
My revamped wreath
And my two special pumpkins! These two have been keeping me quite busy (and not blogging :)
Happy Fall!

5-Minute T-Shirt Skirt

Still have t-shirts left over from college and nothing to do with them? Here's a quick and easy skirt idea! All you need is:

- A t-shirt (bigger sizes are best)
- scissors
- ribbon or shoe lace
- safety pin

Here we go! First lay your t-shirt flat.
Cut straight across just under the sleeve line. Depending on the size of the design on the back, you may or may not have it showing when your skirt is done.
Next, cut a tiny slit through ONE SIDE of the bottom hem.
Now take a safety pin and attach to the end of your shoe lace or ribbon. Then, start feeding it through the hem.
Once you've gone around, this is what it will look like. This is what will tighten it to your waist. Just tighten and tie a bow.
And TA-DA! You're done.
Seriously so easy. It might take more than 5 minutes if you've got a toddler and infant distracting you :)

This skirt is super comfy. Now, mind you, it's not a church skirt or a work skirt. This is more of an around the house, day at the pool/beach, play date at the park type skirt.

Another hint, Michael's sometimes has their plain t-shirts on mega sale and they come in a lot of great colors. Like hot pink! Awesome!