my blog

get the party started.

I’ve started preparations for Grey’s 2nd birthday, which is 2 weeks away, but I will admit, I’m doing it pretty begrudgingly.

Why, you might ask.

Well, because the theme is just so uninspiring to me. Grey loves trucks. Me, not so much. I really wanted to do a monkey party, or a puppy party, or a carnival party, or an airplane party, or an anything but a truck party.

So, I’m dragging my heels, complaining a lot, but keeping in mind that it’s not my party, it’s Grey’s. And if trucks are what he loves, than trucks is what he’ll get.

I ordered his gift online this year, I’m having it shipped, we’ll assemble it beforehand, and put a big fat bow on top. Done. It’s so adorable, but I’m going to make you wait to see what it is. I’m cruel like that.

My color theme is yellow, black, orange and brown. Like the CAT trucks, that sort of idea.

I’ve got plates, napkins and some fun little trucks to decorate the table with. But I really wanted something unique and boyish as the table runner, so I came up with this super original idea, all by myself. ;)

I bought some really, really cheap fabric, like less than $3 a meter/yard. It’s a really heavy suiting fabric, heavier than denim. I cut it to the size I wanted and then simply serged the edges.

Next I took some white carpet binding (that’s what it was labeled as at the store)

and cut it into 4” pieces. Totally get where I’m going with this yet? Well Lily didn’t understand, so I drew on a scrap of paper what I was making. She added the adorable cars.

A ta-da my road table runner.

It’s not all sewn together yet, cause Grey woke up from his nap, and as we all know, free time is over when nap time is over. And by free time I mean my life.

So probably 1/2 hour worth of sewing those little white rectangles, a good press and done. And all for less than $5. Love me a deal.

ruffled flower tutorial.

So, as promised here’s how I made that adorable detail on the sweater post below. It’s really easy and inexpensive, and the best benefit is that when you grow bored of it, just clip the flowers off and start again, with a new color pallet or design.

Alright, start by getting some fabric. I would recommend choosing a fabric that doesn’t fray, like t-shirt material or a light fleece. I’m not sure what my fabric is, because I bought it out of an odds and ends clearance bin. But just make sure it doesn’t fray, this is very important. (unless of course that’s the look you’re going for)

Alright, cut strips of your fabric about 1-2 inches wide, and about 2-3 inches long. It depends on how big you want your flowers to be. (I couldn’t find anymore of the fabric that I used, so I just grabbed a scrap of pink fleece to show you)

Next you want to fold your fabric rectangle in half, length ways.

Start cutting out “B” shapes with the humps of the letter towards the opening of your fabric. The back of your B should be on the fold.

Once you open it up, that’s the basic shape of your flower.

I found once I started doing this, I wanted more of a butterfly shape, so I cut little dents in the top and bottom of my B shape.

Repeat, about 50 or so times. My flowers are doubled up, and I used about 15-20 on my sweater, so about 40 total. I cut them different sizes, some large, some really small. I wanted bigger at the top and to gradually get smaller at the bottom.

Next, take your B shapes, and layer 2 on top of each other, right sides of fabric up. Pinch in the center of your B shape.

Do a quick stitch to hold the pinch in place. Here’s one of the original flowers from my sweater that has been pinched and stitched together.

You can also go lengthwise with your pinch for a much more gathered look.

You can really see the difference when you put the two together.

My sweater has a mixture of both.

Once you have your flowers stitched, just start arranging them onto the collar of your sweater in a way that you like. I then stitched them all down with a running stitch, so it’s easier to take out when I’m done with this look. I thought about doing both sides of the neck, but felt it was too much.

And that’s it. So simple, so easy and very adorable!

car seat blanket tutorial.

Awhile back when I was sharing pictures of the new baby’s clothes, I had mentioned that I had a cute tutorial to share with you, that was so easy your cat could do it. Well, I finally got around to getting it done and blogged. Hope you enjoy!

Now, you could do this 2 ways if you wanted. You could pick your own fabric and sew a simple hem around all 4 edges, or you could use a ready made receiving blanket, or even a thicker lined baby blanket like I chose.

You will also need a coordinating piece of fabric, or ribbon for this project. Luckily for me, when I bought the blanket, it was rolled up and tied with the brown/white band pictured above. Perfect!

Take your blanket and fold it in half.

Mine is all creased and wrinkly, which I’m assuming, is because it was rolled up tight when I bought it. But whatever, I’m trying not to let it bother me…

And then fold it in half again. We’re looking for the middle point people.

Pin out about 3 inches from the center of your blanket, on both sides. (Just ignore my clearly not even pins… LOL!)

Okay. Next step. Take your ribbon, or coordinating fabric and cut two even strips about 6 inches long. If your making your own strip using fabric, you will want to sew it into a tube so that you don’t get raggy edges that fray. Don’t worry about finishing the top and bottom, it won’t notice.

For mine, I just clipped the snaps off the bottom and was ready to go.

Using Velcro or snaps if your heart desires, sew your Velcro to the bottom of your fabric strip.

The second piece of Velcro should go on the opposite side of your fabric strip at the bottom. Be very careful.

It should be able to roll around itself like a bracelet and close up.

Simple so far, right? Well, we’re almost done.

Next up, take your strips of fabric and line the top up with your pin marks on your blanket.

Stitch your strip to your blanket, following the Velcro as your guide.

See only the Velcro part is stitched to my blanket.

The best part about mine, is that you can hardly tell from the back where I stitched it on, because the fabric is so plush.

Line up your second strip evenly and do the same thing. (It totally doesn’t look even in this picture, but I swear it was… LOL!)

And that’s it.

Grab your car seat and try it out.

Push the sun hood back and thread the blanket under the handle.

Loop your straps around the handle and there you have it!

An awesome car seat blanket that won’t shift or fly off on a windy day (I’ve had that happen more times than I can count)

Plus this helps keep people away from touching baby or trying to peek while they’re sleeping.

It keeps it cozy and warm in the winter, but still very accessible to lift and make sure baby is okay. From both the front and back.

A couple of things to remember… every car seat handle is different, so before you sew on the straps just make sure they are going to work with your style of handle. I picked a thicker blanket, since my little guy will be in it most of winter. A thinner cotton would work better for a summer baby. Also make sure your blanket/fabric isn't too big, you don’t want it dragging on the ground or getting all caught up in the base of your car seat when you click it into your vehicle.

So, that’s it. Told ya it was easy. Total time for this project, took me about 20 mins start to finish. Now if your cat does happen to make this, I wanna see some pictures. ;)

Totally off topic… I added a search feature to my blog, after a dear sweet friend of mine couldn’t find a particular post. Since it drives me nuts when I can’t find something I’m looking for, I thought I’d help ya out! ♥

nursing cover.

I’m one of those people that are really good at being discrete while I’m nursing my baby. One time I was walking around Costco nursing (Lily I think??) and some lady came up to me, trying to get a peek at the new baby, I told her she was eating right now and the woman was so surprised, she said “I couldn’t even tell you were breastfeeding and you’re walking around while you do it!!??” Well, when you got stuff to do, you just keep on going right.

Anyways, although I’m really good at what I do, Darren really prefers if I cover up, completely. So I made a nursing cover for those times I’m not at home and I think it turned out pretty cute. I started doing step by step instructions, but it was just taking way too long and it’s really not that complicated (I just add crap to make it that much more difficult. LOL)

Start with your fabric choices.

I’m using the pear fabric and accenting with the polka dots.

Cut your fabric 26” x 38”. A yard or meter of fabric is the perfect amount for this project.

and 4 Hours later…

The color scheme kind of reminds me of the circus, LOL, but I think it’s pretty darn cute anyways.

Some details.

The ruffle I added. Really simple to do, if you need any instructions on how to do this, I can post some additional details.

The neck straps are made with the yellow polka dot fabric too. I cut the fabric 3” wide and sewed them up the middle with a 1/4” seam allowance. Ironed flat and cut one 8” long and the other one 25” long. Added a simple D ring to tie them together.

I really wanted to use the brown polka dot somewhere, so I added a cute little fabric flower and used a red button from my Mom’s button tin. (spare buttons from clothes and some she cut off when I was little and saved in a metal tin. I got the button jar as a gift for Christmas this past year and I treasure each and every button in it. ♥)

Lastly, the neck has a stiff ridge to it, so when you are nursing the baby you can see down, and so they can get some air flow while eating. I just sewed a tube in the middle, about 14” long and added some corset boning to create an arc in the middle. My straps are sewn at either end of the boning to stop it from sliding out.

I’m sorry that this is probably the worst tutorial I have ever posted. (If you could even call it that) If you have any questions, please, please ask away.

I muddled my way through this by looking at pictures of Bébé Au Lait’s- “hooter hider” version online. The only difference… theirs costs $35, mine cost less than $10. ☺

once upon a time.

 

About 8 years ago, Darren and I were newlyweds and we were out clothes shopping for Darren, who was starting school that very month. I remember it like it was yesterday, why I don't know, but I do okay.

So we were in the Gap, looking through the clearance racks for collared shirts (required by his school) and while Darren was looking through, this very smart looking shirt on display caught my eye.

It wasn't on clearance, but I made him try it on anyways. And as the story goes, we bought it. We couldn't afford it, and I remember it being very expensive (as Gap sometimes is) But I always treasured that shirt, since at the time it was a huge expense to newlywed students, and he just always looked so handsome. It was a special shirt. If he ever had a job interview it often was the shirt I recommended. I loved that shirt.

Fast forward 8 years later. The same shirt hanging in the closet, long outgrown. But still very loved by both the wearer and his wife. But as you know, all good things must come to an end and eventually it found it's way into the charity bag for good will. Until yesterday that is.  What once started life as a men's size M shirt, is now something much more. Ready to be adored once again by the wife.

It was cut.

And cut some more.

And layed out to be pinned.

And lovingly stitched.

The cuffs were removed and turned into straps.

And the rest is history.

The front of the shirt is now the back.

And she twirled.

And I get to love this shirt again.