Friendship Pillow

After the problems that Princess had with the dress (found HERE) I wanted her to have a project that would be fun and easy.  One day she came home from school and had a plan that she and her 2 best friends were going to trace there hands onto a piece of paper and frame it.  There it was the idea, now I just had to switch it to a sewing project, we came up with these friendship pillows.

I really wanted to try cutting fabric with my Silhouette so this was the perfect project to give it a start and also a made less cutting for Princess so that she didn’t get bored and frustrated cutting all of the little pieces, in the end all she had to do was cut out the handprints.
She took some cardstock and her two BFF’s traced their hands on it and put their names (so we would know who’s was who’s).  When she got home she took out her fabric and ironed on new-sew heat and bond, traced the hands and then I set up the designs on the silhouette and had the machine do all the work.  She then took the fabric square that she cut out and set it up the way she liked and ironed everything into place.  Being that there was only three girls one of the corners felt empty so we put the letters BFF (Best Friends Forever). She then was able to use her sewing machine to sew the squares together put the pillow inside and then hand stitched the opening closed.  She still has to make two more pillows but because this project went together so quickly she is excited to get them done and give one to each of her friends, then they will each have a pillow to remember their friendship.  Once again The Friendship Pillow, I think it turned out GREAT!




I linked to:

Trash to Models

I have acquired two new members in my family I would like to introduce you to Annie and Betty.




Annie, the mannequin on the left, is a girls size 10 and Betty, the mannequin on the right, is a girls size 12. I have found that women shirts fit fine on them as well, as my new members are stacked well-endowed.

A couple months ago I bought my girls new Speedo swim suits at Costco.  They were the only reasonable priced swimsuits that I could find in February and they came on clear plastic models.  (I didn’t take a picture of these but a couple of my past posts you can see the clear model underneath some of the shirts I’ve made.) 
The plastic actually made it to the garbage can and then I started thinking that they would be great to display clothes on. So I went back out to the garbage and I nailed a hole through the neck into the wall, that didn’t last very long, they looked weird on the wall.

Next I thought that if I gave them some color that maybe they would look better when clothed and the contrast on the wall would be better.  I went to the store to buy some spray paint for plastic and found the color called Princess Pink on clearance.  I wasn’t crazy about the name but the color appeared to be more of a flesh color, fine by me.  Of course after I spray painted my ladies I came across another problem, every time I dressed them I had to take them out of the wall and the nail hole slowly became bigger and a crack started to develop in the neck. I was talking to my my friend and she suggested that I fill it with expanding foam, that would make it firmer and solid.I took my friends advice and filled them with expanding foam and put a nice ribbon in so that I could hang it from the ribbon and not have to worry about the nail when I wanted to dress them.  Last week when I was IKEA I found the hooks on clearance for .49 cents, I knew that they would be perfect to hang my ladies from.



Now my ladies are complete, they are rather exposed right now buy I hope to whip something up soon, say hello to Annie and Betty.  I must say I am very pleased with them as overall cost was under $10 for both of them, not to shabby.

 

Team Chase Adoption Rocks Shirts

For this Giving Saturday I thought it would be nice to revisit Team Chase. 

They have changed there adoption preference and because of this may be getting a child sooner than they thought.  So in hopes that they will bring home a little angel sooner rather than later they are starting another fundraiser, selling these Adoption Rocks fitted tees. 

I LOVE these shirts, I remember seeing images of these before and always liked the look. From now until April 18 you can purchase these shirts for $18 after that they will be $22, with $2 in shipping.  These shirts go to help fund the rather expensive adoption costs.  Check them HERE and while you’re at it go ahead and buy one.

Friday I’m in Love #3

I can’t explain how happy I am this week.  So to get this started did you notice the side bar?  The one on the right side?  Yes, it is true I am going to be a contestant on One Month Two Win IT!!!!!

I can’t even explain the shock and excitement that went through me.  In complete honesty I don’t think that I have ever been that excited I was on the phone with my friend and I dropped the phone, the email was really unexpected. I had pretty much given up any hope that I would make it, but I did and still am in shock.  I have everything planned out for the weeks to come, I hope I make it to the end, I think my crafts will turn out GREAT.  Now I just need to make sure I give myself enough time to keep up with everything.  I hope to not be one of those bloggers who neglect their blog while they are in the contest but honestly I don’t know.

Spring Break is coming to an end and it went by way to fast, I don’t feel like I got anything done that I wanted, but I love that I was able to spend so much time with my girls.  Also though, I Love that Spring Break is coming to an end, because that means I only have 5 more weeks of school until the end of the semester.

I’m the Band Shirt

This is the other shirt that I made for the contest over at I am Momma hear me Roar.

I really love this shirt.  This shirt for me is a blast from the past.  Growing up this was the thing to wear a t-shirt featuring a band  and a thermal shirt underneath it.  We would cut hole at the end of the sleeves and put our thumbs through them.  LOVE IT!  Although I’ve seen this look creep up here and there I really wanted to make one for  a boy that captured what I remembered, with also keeping it kid friendly.

Like every other shirt I started out with a plain t-shirt.  I didn’t have any to fit the boy that I am giving it to so I went to Dollar Tree picked up the shirt.  I also purchased a pair of 3T thermal pants that were in the baby section.  I had everything else on hand which means this shirt cost me $2!! Take the pants and rip out the seam in the crotch and cut the elastic.  This will give you two sleeves.

Then stich up the legs and sew them to the underside of the shirt sleeves.  I also cut notches for the thumbs in the ends of the sleeves and sewed around them.

Then decorate with fabric paint.  I cut the shapes out on freezer paper using my Silhouette and then painted and waited, and painted and waited, and painted and waited.

The front says I’m in the Band!! I thought about putting I’m the fan on the bottom but I think in this case less is more. 

On the back I put on a bunch of band names, names that a boy would like such as Foo Fighters, Blind Melon, and Green Day.

I know I’m a girl but I really want this shirt!!!  LOVE IT!! Again this shirt is in the mail waiting to be received once it is I will have pictures of it being worn by a boy, my mannequin makes it look a bit girly, need to find a nice boy figure that I can turn into a a mannequin.

YAY for the USPS my friends son got his shirts today and I got pictures of the shirt making it look not girly AT ALL!  Let the photo shoot begin.

Dinosaur T-Shirt

 

I have wanted to make these shirts for awhile now and was so happy that I am Momma hear me Roar gave me the excuse to finally get on the ball and make one of them by having this contest.

I have had this Creepy T’s pattern F-O-R-E-V-E-R and never really gotten around to make them.  Being that I don’t have boys it may seem weird that I decided to enter the contest but I love to create tops for either boys or girls. 

What I love most about this idea is that it is a multi-functional gift.  A fun animal to look at and when the string is removed a fun t-shirt for them to wear.

I grabbed one of my white t-shirts.

I really wanted the t-shirt to resemble the dinosaur somehow afterwards so I decided to put on dinosaur footprints before I wrapped and painted the shirt.  I put the footsteps on the same way I did the Lucky Shirt found on St. Patrick Day Shirt One.

After I sewed the footprints in place I wrapped and painted the shirt and created this GREAT looking dinosaur. 

Watch out he might BITE!

As I post this the shirt is in the mail waiting to be unraveled.  Pictures of this should be up in the next day or two.

 

YAY!  The shirts were delivered today thanks to the USPS and I finally got to see the unraveled shirt.  I must say I REALLY like the look, the entire shirt isn’t covered but I still LOVE the result.  Take it away Boo.

 

 

 

Symphony Dress

For Christmas Santa brought Princess a sewing machine and a gift card to Joann Fabrics.  She was delighted and was even more excited to buy some patterns when they were on sale for $1.  This is one of the patterns she picked up.

 

This pattern was the BIGGEST headache I have ever come across.  Originally Princess had it in her mind that she was going to whip this up in one day (not unlike what I do ALL of the time) and planned on wearing it for her cousins Baptism in January.  She practiced sewing the fabric because it was a silkier type of fabric and became familiar with her machine while, I being the sucker set up and cut out all of fabric pieces, that is where the headache began, the instructions were even unclear in how to lay the pieces out on the fabric, SERIOUSLY that is just NUTS! 

After I got all of the pieces cut out we sat down together and tried to make sense of the instructions.  We gave up and she wore and old dress to the Baptism, and the pattern and the pieces sat there in a bag waiting to be assembled for MONTHS!  I want sewing to be fun for my girls and this was not FUN, I wanted her to be able to make it with my assistance but I would become frustrated and she would become frustrated and then we would start and YELL butt heads with each other, SO NOT FUN!

A few weeks ago Princess got to go to the symphony with her violin class when I told her she had to wear a dress she went to bed angry with me.  I being the SUCKER greatest mother pulled out the dress and began to make some sort of sense of everything.  It took me until 3am and I had to rip my stitching a million times but IT GOT DONE! 

      

When I finished it I hung it on her door so she would be surprised when she woke, I think she was as I was not functioning in that morning.  The dress was too long so I had to hem it, we were low on time so she literally stood in the dress while I adjust the length of the dress, I seriously need to go back and fix it.  I think the greatest moment was when her friends came over that weekend and asked if I would make them a dress too, it is always nice when pre teens can appreciate homemade items. I know that I will be a sucker and make them dresses as well but luckily for me I know NOT to follow the instructions and I should be able to make these in a few hours, not a few months.  I must admit I am hesitant to use anymore McCalls patterns based on this dress, has anyone else had bad luck with there patterns?

Boyed Cheese Sandwich

I miss having little girls!  They have such a small understanding about the world around them and make sense of things within their minds of what they only know.  My little girls are becoming big girls but occasionally we have those moments that let me drift back to the memories when they were still discovering the world within their limits.  One of those moments happened today when I made Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.  

My girls do not know what Grilled Cheese Sandwiches are but they do know what “Girled” Cheese Sandwiches are and “Boyed” Cheese Sandwiches.  This funny family joke happened when Kitty Kat was around 5 years old, I asked if she wanted grilled cheese sandwich and out of nowhere responded, “No, I want a boyed cheese sandwich!”  I learned very early not to argue with her and quickly made a “Boyed” cheese sandwich.

Our “Boyed” cheese sandwiches are just grilled cheese sandwiches with meat in them but the name makes them taste all that much more amusing, especially to me the adult, knowing that boys have “meat.” 

 

Now I’m sure you know by now what “Girled” cheese sandwiches, just toasted sandwiches with only cheese.

 

I love the little things in my family like “Boyed” Cheese Sandwiches and “Girled” cheese sandwiches and I love that my girls still call them just that.  Go ahead and make your own, they are delicious.

Love Thy Parent

I had a hard time with today’s Giving Saturday, not because there are aren’t enough places that I think are worthy of mentioning, but because Japan is still on everyone’s mind as it should be, and I didn’t want to mention anything other than Giving to Japan.  Yesterday, I mentioned two great items that you can purchase and donate at the same time for relief in Japan and I contemplated if I should have just moved them to today’s post but I chose not to.

Last night was a reality check type of day.  I hyper ventilated for the 2nd time in my life and had a rather difficult time sleeping.  I always can call my BFF and she usually comforts me but on top of everything else I couldn’t find my phone, which meant no phone call to BFF. As you may or may not know I am single and I live in Pocatello with my two girls, my closest relatives (my parents) live 1 hour away and my only friend lives 5 hours away, I didn’t grow up here and have have lived here for close to 2 years now.  It can get pretty lonely at times but my girls keep me busy and occupied so I don’t really notice, it can be difficult not having a support system in the same town but for the most part it works out alright and I know that before I know it I will be done with school so that I can move if I desire (before I know it being 2 1/2 year YIKES!)

I can’t really explain why of all nights everything seemed to hit me yesterday but it did. I am finishing up the million assignments I was given this week and Spring Break officially started Friday evening.  I called my mom up in excitement that I finished my second to last paper due, the other being on Sunday, and she was telling me how they were selling their antique furniture and antique piano.  I lost my job last year and my Wonderful, Amazing, Generous Parents helped me get by for about 6 months.  I had acquired quite a bit of debt and was also in the process of having a surgery. At the time my parents were also going through a ridiculous law suit and had a lawyer that they found out all to late had some addiction problems.  My dad had to pull out most of his retirement to help me out and to pay for the fees from the lawsuit.

When my mom told me she was selling those items it just broke my heart, those items are some of the best pieces in her house.  She said that they were just downsizing and I know they hope to move away someday as the dream home the built has turned into a nightmare, but I can’t explain the emotion I felt when she told me, I really felt guilty that at 30 I still don’t seem to have my head screwed on correctly.

I am the worst when it comes to giving me presents.  Overall I’m pretty easy to shop for but I am not very good at surprise so I always figure out what I am getting before Christmas or my birthday.  This last Christmas was no exception I wasn’t nearly as good so I didn’t know weeks ahead of time but on Christmas Eve when my parents went out to the guest cabin I quickly opened all of my presents and the rewrapped them, yeah, I’m that girl.  I am the one who opens her presents and then rewraps them.  Now in completely honesty I would have been fine having nothing under the tree as my parents had already given me so much that year but this year was probably the first year that they surprised me.  On Christmas Eve Santa comes and leaves a big Santa sack at the house full of presents, he actually leaves the sack which is always exciting.  So the kids all pulled out there quite large gifts and then my nephew pulled out one smaller box that was labeled to me.  I was shocked as I already had more than I could ever dream of inside it was a nook, I had wanted one for quite sometime but couldn’t afford it they are not the cheapest of items. 

I swear there is a point to that rather long Christmas story.  When I was getting ready for bed I pulled out my nook and was getting ready to read a book that I actually have to have read for school, and the screen is ruined.  I can’t believe I ruined my nook.  I know it sounds petty, especially in light of what is going on around the world but my parents have sacrificed SO much for me and I go and ruin something so amazing, it just kills me.

So in light of my rather long story I ask you to give to your parents.  I know that I have the greatest parents in the world but I’m sure yours are pretty great too, just give them a thanks and a small token of your appreciation this week.  No monetary donation just give them something, because parents sacrifice and they continue sacrificing for their children as long as they need them too.  I know that whatever I do will not be close to show how much I appreciate them but I do and I am truly sorry for all the screws up I have had and will continue to have in my life.  Let your parents know you care.

Note: These are not my parents but this post needed an image and I wish I could send my parents to the beach and seeing as this couple is NAKED in the nude someone had enough money to send them on a private island.

Friday I’m in Love #2

This week has been CRAZY!!!  My Spring Break starts TODAY, which means every professor wanted a paper or a test so that they can grade them over the break.  Needless to say I am in LOVE that this week is over with, granted as I type this I technically still have 3 papers and an outline to do BUT the end is near, Monday can not come soon enough as that is when the final paper is due.

My friend Len over at Crafty Homeschool made a cape this week and I really love it, now a cape is nothing new but I do love the way she did the elastic around the neck, I think it looks so much more comfortable and I will be making it for my nephew, sometime this year.  You can find the tutorial HERE.

I also LOVE how every one seems to come together when there is a crisis like in Japan.  I am Momma Hear me Roar  will send an email of this bag tutorial if you donate $8 to a Humanitarian aid program. You can find the link HERE. I seriously love this back and love even more that it is helping thousands of people.

The Rusted Chain is selling their Pearl Blessed necklace HERE and $10 of everyone sold will be donated to the Red Cross.  They did this for disaster relief in Haiti and donate quite a bit so definitely check them out, Gorgeous.

Overall it has been a GREAT week and Thank Goodness it is FRIDAY!

Spring Break Plans

      Next week starts Spring Break!!! I usually go on a vacation but this year I am sticking close to home.  I am planning to go south to my brothers house for a day, he lives a few hours away in Utah and I really want to hit IKEA.  I also may go north and see my friend who lives several hours away (still in Idaho) but overall not big vacation plans.  So what does this mean I plan on doing with my entire week of freedom from school?

Revamp the girls bedroom!!! 

 

Apparently they are not little girls anymore and insist that they are exiting the “Princess” phase, it is so hard when little girls grow into big girls.  We found some paper lanterns at Dollar Tree and decided that we would use those to hang in their room.  The options that we saw with the paper lanterns were to either do an Asian themed room or a Hawaiian themed room.  Surprisingly the girls chose Asian and I must say it has been rather difficult to come up with a set plan, having not been to either Asia or Hawaii we will have to go with images we find online.  I keep thinking how much more fun and colorful a Hawaiian themed room could be, there are surfboards and brightly colored flowers, which to me sounds so much more fun for growing girls.  Asia is so much more traditional and peaceful in my mind, however we have found some great finds and I am excited to get started.  Also I have to keep in mind that this a a rental so I can’t paint or wallpaper the walls, so all decorations will be pictures or fabric.

The Plan:

All of the “Princess” will be removed, with the exception of the Barbie Doll Castle and Tangled Tower, the hope though is they will be hidden in the closet.

The bed will stay, but the roof will be raised and will be revamped to resemble a Pagoda.

Also I will be putting a fabric mural on the wall, one of which will definitely be a cherry blossom tree.

I will make the bedding, Princess collects white tigers so she will have a tiger bedspread (thank goodness tigers live in Asia) and Kitty Kat will have a panda bedspread.

Also I will make each bed a throw pillow to resemble a kokeshi doll, like this one (but mine will be SO much cuter).

Also all of this has to be done on a very minimal budget, I plan to spend no more than $100. 

I’m sure more ideas will come to me as we really get into the project but these are the plans for now, I would like to be done by the end of the week but I’m not planning on it as I have other things to get done.  I want to get some more items added to my Etsy shop, those cookies are looking very sad being there all by themselves.  I also plan on entering two shirts into the contest that I Am Momma Hear Me Roar is hosting on Friday.

 

  Busy, Busy, Busy, really looking forward to it all!!!