Is October over already????

Did anyone else completely miss October???  I feel like it was just the beginning of pre-school and THEN......today it is almost November.  Weird.  I think 2 thinkgs contributed to my lost month.  ONE....sick kids.  Nothing ruins a month like puke and mucus!!!  And number TWO...THIS....

 I have been creating Emersyn's Halloween costume.  I finanally finished...well almost.  I still need to make her hair.  SERIOUSLY!!!!  I would post about her cotume today, but I am still in shock that it is done.  MAYBE a post for another day. 
Amongst the chaos I was able to finish up a few more projects.  Nothing Earth shattering, but some fun quick and easy crafts.  You know...the kind that make you WANNA be crafty again.  First off was a baby gift for my neighbor.  Julie is cute and crafty and nice (and brings great dinners after I have babies), so I wanted to make something....WELL cute and crafty and nice. 

  I used 2 different tutorials to help. FIRST, I borrowed the numbers from THIS BLOG  (btw..she has the numbers available in girl colors too). THEN, I borrowed the cute note from THIS BLOG. I just opened it in paint, erased her words, and typed my own message. AND....I even managed to get it delivered to her before her kid was a month old....score!!!

 NEXT, I have been trying to add some cheap a and easy Fall decorations to our house.  I love decorating, but hate how much I spend if I head out to the craft stores and look for Holiday decorations.  So I headed to Pinterest and grabbed my favorite ideas and got started.  I found this subway art on Pinterest and printed it right up on my printer.  I am not a wood cutting kinda gal, but wanted to make this RIGHT NOW.  So I grabbed the first square (actually my pre-schooler would actually tell me it was a rectangle) thing I could grab and got mod-podging.  I used a shoe box lid as my base.  I had to dig it out of my garbage can to save it for this proect.   I wasn't sure, but it worked great.  I spray painted it quickly so that it would be a brownish color, then mod-podged on some scrapbooking paper I had around.  Then I sanded the edges and put some wood stain on with a paper towel and my finger.  Since it was tecnically free, I kinda love it.  How can you not love something made out of garbage????

 I found these cute jars at GOODWILL.  I knew right away what I wanted to put in them.  AGAIN....Pinterest!!!  I had the black ribbon around.  I actually just taped it around the jars (since I want to change them soon for Thanksgiving and then use the jars year round).  The tags I printed from HERE and I just taped them onto the jars too. 

 I made a leaf garland out of dollar store leaves.  I bought two packs of 50 leaves and then just sewed them together on the sewing machine in a long line.  Worked like a charm. 

 I wanted to make this wreath THE MOMENT I saw it... you guessed it...on Pinterest.  I didn't make mine interchangeable, I just glued the flowers right on the wreath. 

 I also just used regular buttons for the flower middles.  I just glued some fabric around them. 

 Emersyn thought she needed to pose with HER wreath:)  Then of course she didn't wanna smile!!!

 I am super dooper in love with my milk jug.  I found it in my Gramma's shed and she said I could take it.   I wanted to paint it and pretty it up, but then I hosed it off and loved the antigue-y look of it.  SOO I might have to head back to Gramma's and grab another one to paint (she has like 5 stashed away in there). 
Last but not least is our infestation of bats.  I saw THIS over on MADE last year and liked it.  Then she did it again this year and I decided it was time to get it done. 

 Our rodent friends are sneaking out of the pantry and flying to freedom in the living room.  Kinda fun and FREE:)  All you need is some black paper and a few minutes and you can have creepy flying friends in your house too.  We are having a Halloween party at our house Friday....A PIRATE PARTY....and so there will be more creepiness coming up soon.  Since I have had sick kids for 2 weeks, first kid 1 and then kid 2, I REALLY need to get cracking on the whole GET THE HOUSE READY FOR A PARTY thing:)

 Other than that....we have pretty much just been hanging around.....HAHA!!!  She REALLY thought she was SOO high off the ground.  I had to come and save her!!1

 Happy Autumn Everyone!!! 

The 365 Day dress

Guess who starts Pre-School next week????

 Emersyn keeps asking IS TODAY PRE-SCHOOL DAY????  IS TODAY PRE-SCHOOL DAY????  She is SOOOO ready to go!!!  I on the other hand CANNOT believe that she is so grown up (SIGH). 

On ANOTHER note...I am slowly working through my WIP basket.  This little dress has been in there for A WHILE.  Just to give you a hint...the shirt for this dress is size 24 months and the cute little girl wearing it is THREE!!!  YEP...been working on that one for a while.  SADLY....the only thing I had left to do was to sew on the ribbon.  EMBARRASSING!!!  The tutorial I used was from FROM AN IGLOO and is CORRECTLY named the Twirly T-shirt dress.  THAT is exactly what it is:)  Although it would have been a little longer A YEAR AGO when I made it, it works great and she LOVES the twirl.  I will for sure have to use this tutorial again and make something a little more IN OUR SIZE!!

Is it pre-school day yet?????

Baby Board Shorts

You know when you have waited until the very last minute for something and then you FINALLY get it finished???  That feeling of relief and accomplishment???  I ALMOST have that right now.  If only summer was not almost over and my baby board shorts were not a LITTLE bit too late.  BUMMER-IFIC!!!!  Oh well.  For one more sunny day Baby Boy can look cute:)  Anyway.  I am still trying to empty out my WIP basket.  I AM NOT GIVING UP!!!! 

Not a great picture of Ethan, but the only view of his shorts that half way turned out.  I cannot believe how hard it is to take a picture of a kid who ONLY wants to learn to crawl.  Wiggle Wiggle WIGGLE!!!!   ANYWAY...When I was in bandana short making mode at the beginning of the summer, I whipped up these little baby board shorts. I saw this bandana and thought...BOARD SHORTS!!!   I hve more of these bandanas and had hoped to make Em a matching bandana skirt, but NOT GONNA HAPPEN THIS SUMMER.  Besides that....BABY boy never got to enjoy his shorts because they sat in the bottom of THE BASKET waiting for the shirt to go with it. 

 I used the 90 minute shirt tutorial from MADE and it only took my 90 DAYS!!!!  Oh well.  I completed it..that is what counts right???  I liked the pattern and hope to make many more of those some day.  NOT TODAY THOUGH!!!

Scarlett O'Hara Skirts

While at Target the other day I found 2 cute curtain panels on clearance for around 3 bucks.  I wanted them, but was not sure what the finished product would be.  BUT how can you pass up 90 percent savings???  I at least thought I should carry them around in my cart for a while just in case. 
Then I thought Oh Fiddle-dee-dee I wonder if I could make skirts out of them.  OK OK I didn't think that....but I COULD have!!!  Anyway....I made the purchase and thought I would try it.  The first one started as a window valance....

 I cut off all the cute little tabs, sewed the two ends together, made and elastic casing....

And ended up with a happy little ALMOST pre-schooler.  She likes to make up her own poses when I try to take pictures of her.  I am not sure where she learns this stuff....I have never seen Dora do a photo session, but whatever....she is so darn cute I just go with it. 

Curtain number 2 was an even easier fix.  It was an ACTUAL curtain.  The green strip was a casing for a curtain rod, so I decided to use that for my elastic. 

 I just measured how much room I needed for elastic and sewed a SEMI straight line down the green strip.  Then strung my elastic through and sewed up the side seam--elastic and all. 

I am spoiled now and may never want to ACTUALLY hem anything ever again.  It was so nice to whip up a skirt in about ten minutes and never have to think about top-stitching or hemming or measuring.  It was just instant gratification....I needed a few NON-complicated projects to get my sewing mojo back I think.

Skirt number 3 I made from some thrifted vintage napkins I had laying around.  I initially bought them for my etsy shop, but then I noticed that a few in the set had some slight staining issues....so waste not want not right????  I was not sure Emersyn would be ok with the VINTAGE look, but she LOVED it.  She called it her cowgirl skirt and refused to take it off....cannot beat a reaction like that. It is just perfect for lounging around the plantation:)

 She cracks me up because when I get done sewing something for her and have her try it on she instantly runs outside and yells....TAKE A PICTURE OF ME NOW.  SO I do.

Some of her poses are better than others....

These were by far the easiest re-fashions EVER.  I know I say that every time, but SERIOUSLY this time.  30 minutes for all three skirts.  For a little princess who likes to twirl and dance around....PERFECT!!!!  I am actually loving this whole...BACK TO SCHOOL thing.  I realize it is just pre-scool  2 days a week, but the kid needs a new wardrobe RIGHT???  ;)  I am however OUT of curtains to  sew up.....but AFTER ALL....TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY:)

The Easiest Re-fashion EVER!!!

You know when you have one of those weeks???  The ones where the kids each wake you up about 100 times a night, there are no clean clothes, and the only thing you feel like making for dinner is pizza.  The ones where you wake up in the morning with no covers on three square inches of your bed and look over too see your kids all piled up between you and your husband.  The ones where you contemplate running away, but it just seems like it would take more energy than you have.  Yeah....well multiply that by 10 and that about sums up the way I have felt this week. 

THEN by some miracle sent from above, the stars aligned and the kids took a nap AT THE SAME TIME.   I should have made a dent in the dirty clothes mountain or cleaned the sticky goo off of my kitchen floor OR taken a nap....but I decided to sew.  Crazy I KNOW!!! 

I needed something simple and mindless AND with instant payoff.  I chose to dig out my re-purpose box and see what popped out at me.  I have had THIS

shirt around since I was PREGNANT with Emersyn....so over 3 years.  I thought it had potential, but never quite knew what to make of it.  I decided to go easy and make a simple skirt.  SOOOOO I cut off the bottom below the waist, added an elastic waist and SMILED!!!!

I KNEW Emersyn was going to like it.  WHY????  Because it would look great with a pair of cowgirl boots.....and this girl LOVES her cowboy boots!!!

I don't know if it is because they are pink or because they are adorable or if it is because they tap when she walks, but SHE LOVES HER BOOTS!! 

So we both got what we wanted.  She got a cute comfy cowgirl skirt and I got 1 hour to myself with no crying, pooping, or BUT WHY'S. 

And in my opinion a twirly girly skirt is about as good as it gets.  Maybe even a little therapeutic :)

Boy shorts

Yesterday I told you about this cute vest tutorial at B is for Boy....well I could not let the poor boy wear his cute vest WITHOUT some matching shorts!!!  I was a little bummed that the shorts I bought to re-purpose ONLY had enough fabric for the vest (I didn't realize it would be fully lined).  SOOOO I had to improvise.  I grabbed a brown skirt out of my GOODWILL pile and got to work. 

I followed the same steps as from over HERE when I made bandana shorts, except this time I used the pockets from the skirt to make the pockets of the shorts. 

It worked great.  I just cut the pockets RIGHT off the skirt.  I even cut the bottom layer of fabric and kept the button.  That means inside his pocket is a button that is only attached to a small circle of fabric, but since he doesn't REALLY use his pockets, I think we are safe:) I just sewed the pockets onto the front side of the shorts BEFORE I attached the 2 sides together.  I sewed them on by top-stiching and left the edges raw.  I think raw edges scream BOY, but I guess you could turn them under and have finished edges too.  ANYWAY....quick easy addition to our CHURCH attire and probably the last pair of shorts of the season.....now  on to making coats and pants:) 

B is for Boy!!

 Pheww...Summer is kicking my tail.  So  many things to do before the weather gets cool again.  Fairs, parties, birthdays, and this week....pre-school orientation.  How do I have a kid old enough for pre-school???  When did that happen???  Anyway...I did manage to get a little ALONE time amongst all of the chaos...and of course I headed to the sewing room.  I have REALLY been wanting to make something cute for my little Ethan boy for a while now.  It seems like there are TONS of cute girl things to make, but boy patterns are few and far between.  THEN I ran into THIS cute vest tutorial from B is for BOY.  I INSTANTLY knew that this was the tutorial for me.  So I headed to Value Village for some pants to re-purpose. 

Actually I found SHORTS to re-purpose, but I SHOULD have looked harder for pants.  WHY???? Because then I could have made him a matching pair for pants.  As it was, I only had enough fabric for the vest.  SOOO I guess I will have to make another one:) HMMM..better head to Value Village Again!!!

 This tutorial was great.  Easy to follow and well explained with pictures.  I LOVE PICTURES!!!!  There are only 2 things I would do differently. Both having to do with the top of the vest.  It tucks under the onesie flap, which works great.  BUT when the neck moves or gets pulled, the raw edges of the top of the unfinished vest show.  I did not like that...so I sewed a few stiches on the top flap through the vest...just to keep it all closed up.  I should have either made the vest tops narrower or folded them under and finished the tops off.  That is my only complaint.  I guess that is REALLY only 1 thing I would change...

 I think this would be SUCH a fun baby shower gift.  Quick and easy.  PLUS who doesn't love to dress their baby up:)

So for the sophisticated 6 month old....SUCCESS!!!!  Perfect for a morning at church, and comfy enough for an afternoon in the yard.  BTW....I LOVE THIS LITTLE BOY!!!!!



Giddy-Up!!

 At least 2 years ago I bought this cute little retro cowgirl outfit at a yard sale.  I thought it was kinda throw back Dolly Parton or something.  Plus little girls can get away with wearing totally ridiculous things....like fringe and horse head shirts.  Now at the time my little girlie was barely ONE and this was a TWO year old outfit, but I figured SOMEDAY my little girl would be a cowgirl...but it just never happened.  The fairs here are all during the summer and too hot for long sleeves and no other occassion warrented a fringy horse head.  SOOO this cute little number hung in the closet and got smaller and smaller.  BUMMER.  Well the other day a huge haul of thrifted clothes and a FULL closet required some mid-SUMMER cleaning, so I decided to discard all of the too smalls hanging out in Emersyn's closet.  I decided the horsies---no matter how cute---had to go.  Then I had AN IDEA....I have pretty much shortened the sleeves on every hoodie and sweater I own....WHY NOT A SHIRT???  What could it hurt??????

SOOOO here you have it....

HOW TO SHORTEN THE SLEEVES ON SHIRT OR DRESS SHIRT!!!

The process was a little bit different, but the idea is the same.  First I unpicked the arm from the shirt.  I think if you had a regular cuff you could do EXACTLY like a sweatshirt, but I needed to salvage my cute cuff.  Once the sleeve was off, I cut the TOP of the sleeve.  I just free handed it...but make sure to copy the SHAPE of the top of the sleeve.  You need the curve to make the sleeve look right.  Make sure you use the cut sleeve as a pattern for cutting the 2nd sleeve so that they are the same length....which is always a good idea:)

Then i just followed the steps from SHORTENING a hoodie sleeve.  Which are....
1. turn your shirt inside out. 
2.  put your sleeve (right side out) inside the arm hole.  This should put them RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER)
3.  Then line up the seams for the under arm and pin. Make sure that these seams line up...otherwise your arm-pit looks WONKY.  You don't want a HOMEMADE looking arm-pit!!!!  ALSO line up the middle of the top of the sleeve and then middle of the top of the arm hole and pin. 
4.  Pin all the way around. Your sleeve may not be the same size as your hole....just evenly disperse the fabric and pin well.  I left all of my extra at the top of the sleeve and made little pleats on the shoulder.
5.  Sew around the sleeve hole.
6.  Flip it right side out and enjoy!!!! 

I was so happy that this worked out. The shirt was perfect for a COWGIRL night at the fair!!!    That is just how my Cowgirl poses these days...not sure why, but you get a pretty good view of her sleeve..haha!!!

I would really recommend measuring how much to cut off.  I was on the safe side and didn't have my Cowgirl handy....I could have for sure gone a bit shorter.  But that didn't stop her and her bestie from having a fun old time at the fair!!!

She got in some good practice on her Rodeo Queen wave during her PONY RIDE. Seriously..what could be better than riding a pony IN a pony shirt?????  Nothing cuter that is for sure!!!

I think this NEW way of shortening sleeves will be great for me.  I have short stubby arms, so long sleeves never fit me quite right.  PLUS I like 3/4 better than long sleeves....so I will have to start QUARTERING I guess. 

Here is the whole HANDY family.  Don't feel bad for BABY BOY not having a COWBOY outfit...He had just already POOPED OUT his overalls.  Just so you know we are EQUAL opportunity with our Cowboy/girl attire over here;)

Happy "shortening" Ya'll.  Just a warning....it can be exhausting being so cute and cowgirlie...be prepared!!!!