sometimes it pays to buy big

I seem to find more clothing on the clearance rack that is too big, than in my size. This time it paid off to buy a bigger size! I found this little dress (ok, technically I found it with the sleepwear) for just over $3. It was 2 sizes too big, but it was SO comfy and perfect to go with my new summer obsession...leggings!

Blah, shapeless


I put it on inside out, stuck a few pins, 5 minutes under the sewing machine and...


Yay for a new summer dress!

I have been waiting to post this!

I was so excited about this project! I just took part in a gift exchange between some other mom friends. I mailed out my gift, but wanted to wait until my friend received it before I posted this. This was so much fun! I wanted my sweet friend to feel like she got something special and one of a kind. She gave me a few ideas, and here is what I came up with.

She said she likes simple jewelry, so when I saw this idea for button earrings, I thought how CUTE!!! I had a hard time finding the plain, silver, earrings to work with, but I finally tracked them down. I think they came in a pack of about 30, so I could do LOTS more if I wanted. haha
I made two pair, one all black and the other was a pearl-like white with a white ribbon. I WISH I could wear these, but my ears just freak out.


She also said she wanted a storage basket to organize her daughter's loose CDs. I found two baskets that I liked the size and shape of, but not the color.


After LOTS of spray paint, LOTS of hot glue, some home decor fabric, ribbon, cardboard and scrapbook tags...This is what I had.


The smaller of the two I designed specifically for storage of loose CDs. I used fabric along the bottom and ends inside the basket so that the CDs wouldn't get scratched. Then I covered some pieces of heavy cardboard with fabric (not my original idea, can't remember where I saw it though) and attached these little scrapbook tags so she can divide and label what is in the basket.



For the larger basked I just sewed a simple slip cover for the bottom (it was easier than I expected), wrapped ribbon around the top, and added several pleated flowers with more scrapbook tags.



I really enjoyed this project! I really hope she gets a lot of use out of them. She definitely deserves something special!

favorite animal?

My daughter's favorite animal is a turtle. A little random, but we go with it. It is hard to find turtle things for her, it is not really the most common animal for kids. She was never really obsessed with or gotten attached to anything, until the turtle. It was the first animal she started identifying by name rather than sound (does a turtle make a sound?) and she started pointing out turtles wherever she saw them. Thus the random turtle paraphernalia around our house. I used this tutorial and just changed the shape of the animal. I used one of her turtle shaped puzzles to come up with my shape to trace. I don't think it turned out to be the most obvious turtle shape, but she still likes it.

Here is the front and back. Oh, and I forgot to add the "eye" so I just stitched in that spot.



Here she is, snuggling with her new turtle, laying on her turtle Hugga Pet and watching a movie.


I love my girl.

feeling patriotic

It is so close to July 4th, I figured I really needed to update my wreath. I whipped up a few felt flowers in white, red and shades of blue. Yay!

I hope you are not sick of my Ruffle Wreath, because here it is again!





I LOVE being able to change the season decor on this wreath so easily! If you want that tutorial, you'll find it here.

I liked up here...

Happy Father's Day!

We had a nice day together as a family. My hubby woke up to fresh coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls. Jocie and I gave him a photo card (my new favorite thing, from Shutterfly) and a "Dad" t-shirt, he already got a new set of golf clubs. My hubby has a couple of "Dad" shirts that he has pretty much worn threadbare. I really wanted to make one myself so I could come up with my own phrase. I attempted my first ever freezer paper stencil (check out a tutorial here, she is pretty much the queen of this technique). I like the way it came out!

Here is my hubby, struttin' his stuff in Lowes this afternoon. He's hot stuff!


Funny story, I got the crown silhouette from this website and save the file on our desktop. I forgot to delete it once I had adjusted the size and printed the image. He saw it and I had a good time listening to his guesses about how it related to his gift. Haha! It was a pretty simple thing to do, the most time consuming part was cutting out the stencil, I think I'll get a better cutting tool the next time I try this.

Waiting...

I'm sitting at home waiting...for a camera crew to show up. What?!? I'm SO nervous! A local up and coming website is becoming a hub for consumers to find local businesses. My hubby and I are friends with the men who started it and they asked if I'd be interested in having Sunshine Baby Nursing Capes on their website. Again, what?!? How cool is that! I'm not sure what to expect, just hoping I don't make a fool out of myself on camera.

Father's Day is around the corner

I want to know what your (or your hubby's or dad's) favorite "Dad" slogan is. My hubby has a couple of "Dad" t-shirts that he wears all the time. One is says "Dad 07", which is what he wore at the hospital the day our daughter was born. The other says "A man who changes diapers, changes the world". Eventually our daughter will be potty trained and he won't be able to wear that one any more.

How about you?