Ever thought about turning tights into leggings? I have a bunch of tights that Sophia has grown out of and the weather is warming up. There is no need for tights this time of year but I do like the look of leggings under a dress. This is another super easy project: turn your tights into leggings. First, you will cut off the feet as close as you can to the heel. Next, pin under the cut edge of the tights. You can stretch the tights and use a sewing machine to sew the cut ends under or hand sew. Now you have turned tights into leggings. They look a little more finished when they are hemmed as opposed to just cut off. This is super easy to do. After you sew, the bottom might look a little stretched out. I used my iron to bring it back down. New pair of leggings! I showed you how to make these rose petal flowers last week. Here are a couple more I made. These look so cute on and are great for photographs. They would probably be best for little girls a couple years older that won't pull them off. If you would rather not make these, you can purchase them in the store. I made this flower out of the same material I used for the drop cloth table runner. You can also … [Read more...]
Rose Petal Flower Headband
Here is another tutorial to show you on how to make a rose petal flower headband. I found this idea on Pinterest. It was on I Heart Nap Time. I have fun making flowers to put in Sophia's hair, even if they only stay in for 10 minutes. If they stay in long enough to get a picture, then I'm happy. I know that sounds a little ridiculous but I have fun dressing Sophia up with flower headbands in her hair! You will need some cotton fabric (enough to cut 10-12 2 inch wide circles), scissors, a pencil, a glue gun, button, elastic or headband. Begin by tracing something you have that's circular shape and about 2 inches in diameter. Trace 10-12 circles onto your fabric then cut them out. Place a small amount of hot glue on the bottom part of the circle (as seen in the picture). Pinch the other side to the glue and repeat with all the circles. Glue the petals together to form a rose. Glue a button in the middle and attach with glue to a headband. It's so hard to get pictures of her these days without her looking away or sticking something in her mouth! Pretty cute, I think. I love the bigness of the flower. I think the bigger the better. If you're not into making one, you can … [Read more...]
Decorative Felt Flowers
These felt flowers are fun to make. They are super simple and you can put them on anything. Glue a felt flower to a headband, hair clip, bag, hat, clothing, or top of a package for an added touch. They also make cute gifts after you have attached a felt flower to a headband, clip or bag. They really do look cute. All you need is some felt, beads and a needle and thread. Draw three flower shapes in three different sizes on a piece of felt, cut out your shapes, stack, place a bead on top, and sew together. Draw a leaf shape if you like, cut out, and sew to the bottom of the flower. It's that easy! Glue a flower to a hair clip. Attach a flower to a headband. Stitch a flower to the side of hat. Sew a flower on the front of your little girl's purse. You can sew them on a plain colored sweater, shirt, or dress. Also, don't worry about the flower shapes being perfect, just draw a simple shape and they look great even with imperfections. They don't have to be perfect to look good! … [Read more...]
Lampshade Makeover Idea
Here is a lampshade makeover idea. Here are the two shades and lamps. The before shade is on the right and the (partial) after (covered shade) is on the left. I've had these little Pottery Barn lamp shades and lamps for seriously 10 years. That's a long time for me to hold onto something! I held onto them for so long because at one time, they were really cute. After all these years, they were looking drab and needed a makeover. This is another simple idea for you on how to makeover a lampshade. You don't have to follow it exactly but maybe it will give you a little inspiration to makeover an old lampshade. I traced the shade on a piece of canvas type of white fabric. After I traced the shade onto the fabric, I cut it out and used a glue gun to glue the fabric to the shade. The shade is beaded, so there is no way to make the cover smooth. I think it turned out fine though. I glued the bottom edge in and then cut four slits in the top, put glue on the pieces and glued them down. The first picture in the post shows what the shade looked like after I covered it. I decided to coordinate the shades with the pillows I recently made. I cut four strips of fabric, created pleats using … [Read more...]
28 Favorite Free Fonts
There are so many great free fonts out there. I picked 28 favorite free fonts to share with you. These are the fonts I probably use most often. It is fun to create invitations, cards, or notes when you have a variety of pretty fonts to use. These are all free! Hover over the title of the font and click on it. You will then be taken to the web page where you can download the font. Most of these fonts come from dafont.com. This is a great site. It explains to you how to download the fonts and it has new free fonts all the time. Check it out and you can come up with your own favorite free fonts. … [Read more...]
Embellished Pillows
Pillows are fun and easy to make. In this tutorial I will show you how to embellish your pillows with pleated fabric. You can embellish other things with pleated fabric. You could embellish the front of a sweater or dress, a picture frame, book, or book mark with pleated fabric. You cold embellish a hair clip, headband, or make shoe clips. Okay, you get the idea! I just got a new chest for Sophia's room. I put it below her window and planned to make a cushion and throw pillows for it. I thought I'd make it look like a window seat. I still need to make a seat cushion but I just finished the pillows and I like the way they came out. I was inspired by Emily from Jones Design Company to embellish pillows with pleated fabric. I cut three long strips of fabric. You can use any kind of fabric you want. Or grosgrain ribbon would look really cute too. I don't measure too often. I'm just kind of that way when it comes to crafts. Sometimes it's not a good thing though and I end up having to redo things and it's a major hassle so I'm not recommending this. Anyway, I made sure the strips were all the same length and estimated how long I thought they should be. I spaced each strip out … [Read more...]
Make Playdough at Home
Have you ever made your own play-dough? It's easy to make playdough at home. And it's a great activity for kids. It's fun for them to get involved in the process and it is not as messy as you would think. The recipe is quick and easy and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry. I found the idea on Pinterest. It is from this website (http://www.childcentralstation.com/2013/03/homemade-play-dough.html). What you will need: 3 cups flour, 1.5 cups salt, 6 tsp. cream of tarter, 3 tbsp. oil, 3 cups water, food coloring Mix all the ingredients in a big pot and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes until the dough forms by pulling away from the sides. Knead the dough into balls until it gets the consistency of play-dough. Place the dough in plastic bags and add food coloring. I think this is the most fun part of this activity- squishing the food coloring into the dough. Make playdough at home and have fun! … [Read more...]
Ribbon Covered Hair Clips
Last time I was at Hobby Lobby I saw ribbon covered hair clips. The clips were covered with grosgrain ribbon and looked simple and cute. I was inspired to make some myself. I finally took the time to do it today. It didn't take much time at all. This is another basic tutorial I'm sure you could figure out yourself but maybe this will give you a little motivation to do it. These are cute for yourself, your daughter, or as a gift for a friend. You'll need a few basic supplies; metal hair clips, grosgrain ribbon, glue {fabric or hot}, & scissors Step 1: Roughly measure a piece of ribbon a little longer than the ends of the clip & cut. Step 2: Place glue on the parts of the metal you can put glue on. Step 3: Carefully place ribbon evenly over the clip. Step 4: Place a small amount of glue on the inside of the clip, fold the ends in & place over the glue. Very simple! If you can get your toddler to hold still, put one in her hair. Hopefully your toddler won't pull it out like Sophia likes to do. … [Read more...]
Party Favor Bags
For Sophia's Birthday Party I made very simple party favor bags. This is another simple DIY project. They are so easy and come out looking pretty cute. I used wrapping paper for the material. You can use any kind of paper you like that works for you. I like using wrapping paper because I can use it to wrap packages and have things coordinate. I also used this wrapping paper to line the envelopes I made for the invitations. I measured the paper 9.5 x 11 inches and cut. Place the rectangle in front of you and equally fold the two sides in. I used a glue stick and covered a half inch along the edge of one side and placed the edge of the other side over the glue. I folded the bottom up about a half inch and glued it down to the bag. You can fold over the top and use a sticker to close the bag. Or I folded the top about an inch down and then punched two holes and tied a bow through the punched holes. … [Read more...]
Tissue Paper Flowers
I've decided to make tissue paper flowers for the party. Besides party hats, I'm getting into more decorating for Sophia's first birthday. There is something really gratifying about do it yourself projects. It is a lot fun. I'm sure you've seen plenty of these. They definitely are not anything original. My mom showed me how to make tissue paper flowers. They are another simple project that come out looking pretty good (especially for the little effort needed to put in). I used six sheets of tissue paper. Fold the paper back and forth (like a fan) about an inch and a half wide. I used a twist tie in the middle (or use wire). Trim the ends however you would like the ends of the flower to look (I curved the ends). Open up the fan and gently peel the layers back (one at a time) until they have all been pulled a part. Shape your flowers however you like. Create a loop using the ends of the wire. Hang flowers from a light fixture using fishing line. … [Read more...]
