Skirt making adventures

For those of you who follow me on facebook, this is old news. I DISPISE a lot of the clothes out there for little girls right now. Not so much the under 5T clothes but the over 5T clothes. They are just plain old trashy! Many of them are form fitting and trendy. Why do we want our 6 year olds to look like 15 year olds? Seriously, I love my little free spirited 6 year old who just wants to wear skirts. Well guess what....you guessed it, a lot of skirts in her size are either $100's of dollars or short and trendy. Not my style! Nor is it hers. She really likes longer skirts with lots of little girls patterns....flowers, birds, pink, pink, and more pink. And modesty! Yes, modesty is something I believe in teaching her. 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

After talking to my hubby about my frustrations, he said, "why don't you just make her a bunch". Yes, I can...I have...but did I really want to? Do I want her going to school looking like all her clothes are handmade?? Well, no, but if I am careful and meticulous, I can get them to look pretty nice (at least in my mind). So yesterday, Kylie and I headed off to Joann's to find some fabrics. SHE picked out most of them (with some guidance from her momma) and I went to town. Two skirts are made and they both took me under 45 minutes to make.

Did I follow a tutorial? Not necessarily. I have made just plain old skirts in the past so that wasn't hard. The only tool I used was one my SIL gave me a few years ago. You just put in the measurements and number of tears you want and it tells you want to cut. It's great.

So here are the first two....


She wasn't into modeling today so I wasn't going to force her...but she DID wear the first one to church this morning. I love it! I am going to make me a few once I can get a true waist measurement on myself (in about 2 months or so).

I figured I would share them as I make them with you all in hopes that you too will be inspired to make some of your own clothes. I am always happy to make some for you or teach you how to do it yourself. I have a few more designed I have made in the past and will hopefully take a few pictures of those shortly.

Happy sewing!

Most simple dress EVA...

Tell me this dress isn't cute (and the model of course)!!??

It took me about an hour TOTAL to make.

Go down to your basement/attic/garage and pull out an old bin of clothes (preferably last years). Find the stain shirts and one without a stained top.

Cut them in stripes...and sew them together...

SO EASY.

By the way. I made this one into a shirt for Kylie because she is into leggings and such right now!

Here is the tutorial in case you really want step by step instructions.

Like a said...great way to reuse old stained clothes AND it is just super cute.

Now on to making Addy's!

Entertaining the troops

I don't know about you, but some days I find it difficult to keep everyone happy. This snow and cold has kept us indoors for a while now and the kids are getting antsy.

So this mama has had to be creative....

A few ideas for those days when entertainment is NECESSARY!

Painting with pudding. Although I wish this was my idea, I can take no credit for it. I did it with Kylie back in the day but kinda forgot about this nifty craft idea. Recently, I read about it in a magazine and knew I had to let Addy get her turn with the pudding. Just give you kiddo some chocolate pudding, a silicone baster and some paper and watch what happens! It took her a while to figure out it was pudding (the other kids were painting with real paint) but once she did, she was entertained for a whole 30 minutes!


I picked up these really neat cookie cutters a while back on a free table at church and I have to say, they have been the best free thing I have every received! They came with the whole alphabet and number!! Since Cooper is learning how to spell his name, we had a playdough date with the letters. It was so much fun for the kids. Addy loved it just as much...even though she had NO idea what she was spelling.

Cooper was VERY proud of himself!

Felt...oh how I love thee TUTORIAL

The other day I was thinking about the church I grew up in. I was remembering the felt board my teacher used to teach us the stories of Jesus. Who didn't want to be the one who was called to place baby Jesus in the manger or put the crown on Jesus' head?

Anyways...felt was fun! And it still can be fun!

I thought about making my own portable felt boards. You know, so the kids can bring them to the doctors office or to a restaurant. We also do a lot of traveling over the holiday's and we are always looking for car ride entertainment. And don't forget Christmas gifts! I have a number of small people in my life who would love to play with some felt!

So here it is...my little portable felt board tutorial!

Supplies:
Felt in all sorts of colors (I bought it by the yard because it was %50 off and MUCH cheaper)
scissors (regular and crafty ones)
cookie cut outs
ribbon

Step one: Cut out your background. Mine is about 12X12. Then make scenes to go with it. I made water and hills for the boys and hills and rocks for the girls.
Step two: Find your fancy cookie cutters. I got this whole bin on a giveaway table at church and pick out some fun shapes. Trace on felt and cut out.

Step three: You can either make a small little pouch for your felt pieces or just get a baggy for them. Roll up your background and tie with a ribbon...

Step three: Find a small person to play with it.

Christmas fun with your kiddos

Every other day, my kids and I do some "learning" together. We sit in a circle and sing songs, talk about what day it is, the weather, and then do some activities together. When Kylie is home, she joins us but most days it is just Cooper, Addy and I.

Anyways, I am always looking for new and creative ways to teach my kids. It's always fun during the holidays to come up with new crafts and activities for the kids. BUT...sometimes, I forget about all of the crafts we did as kids. It is also difficult to find activities for all of my kids. Kylie will come home from school and ask to do a "project" so I like to have some handy for her (preferably one I did with the others earlier in the day).

I figured I would share a few crafts with you all that you can use for ALL your children.

• The hand wreath...

Yes, some of us did this as kids but it is just fun....

• The Teeny Tiny Book of Christmas Alphabet for your preschooler
• Christmas Reindeer Craft

  Directions: Make a reindeer by shaping the pipe cleaner into a V shape and gluing it to the top, back of the stick; glue on wiggle eyes and nose, and draw a mouth. You can make this a gift tag by writing To: and From: on it; you can use the ribbon and make it an ornament; or you can make it a magnet.

• Egg Carton Tree
  
  Directions: Cup the egg cartons so you have one row of 6 cups, one row of 5 cups, and so on to 1 cup. Paint the outside of the egg cup green. When the paint is dry, glue them on a large sheet of paper as follows: Glue the 6 cup row on the bottom of the paper, just above that glue the 5 cup row, and so on until you have used all the cups. It should look like a triangle when you are done. Decorate with misc. craft items
• Christmas Necklace

  Directions: Cut 2-3 feet of cling wrap and lay flat on table. Starting on one end, place candy in the center of the cling wrap. Do this the whole length of the cling wrap, leaving 2-3 inches between each candy. Fold the cling wrap over a few times - the long way- to seal the candy. Tie a piece of curling ribbon around the cling wrap in between each piece if candy. Tie the ends together to make a necklace.

• Santa Hat
  

  Directions: Cut out a large triangle out of red construction paper. Glue on the cotton balls to make a white ball on one of the triangle tips, and glue cotton balls along the
  bottom edge to form the brim. You can also cut out two triangles and tape or staple them together to make a hat to fit the child's head.

Enjoy.....

Super cute santa hat

Have I mentioned that I love Christmas?

I do!!!

Yes, my house is semi decorated already and there are plans of getting all my Christmas houses out this week.

In the mean time, I found this awesome pattern for a Santa hat. It was very quick and easy...and just plain old cute.

Cooper decided he didn't want one (too girly he said) so I made one for Kylie and am modifying the pattern to fit Addy right now. When I figure it out, I will post the modified directions for the toddler size.

Happy crocheting girls...

Do YOU know what today is?

Some of you know that we have started to think about homeschooling.

Before you say it, YES, I know how difficult it can be and YES, I know how regimented one must be to make it work and YES, we live in a great school district...

BUT

Did you know that mama's should be with their little ones until they are at least 8 years old? AND did you that the teacher that will be teaching your little one has 20+ other students who are all learning at a different speed? AND did you know that children are the most impressionable in their elementary years? AND did you know that we are Christians and really want God to be a part of our daily "learning" time?

Okay, so I said it. Those are some of the reasons why we are considering it.

That being said, we have started to implement a daily schedule of "learning" time. I ordered curriculum through Little Acorn Learning (THANKS SARAH) and have started using it on a daily basis along with some of my own stuff. Kylie and Cooper love it so far (as does mommy). I will let you know how it all pans out over the next few months.

Here is our room right now...it will be painted in the spring...probably yellow with a nice cork board on the wall.

Well TODAY we learned that IT IS THE 12TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS.

We decorated kings (and queens) crowns to celebrate when the wise men came to visit baby Jesus. The cirriculum talk about making a cake but due to our allergies (and mommy's lack of GF products in the pantry) we made cheese crackers...with our crowns on of course.
I am going to share with you all the recipe because my SIL shared it with me just yesterday and it has been a HUGE success in both of our households.

4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons milk

• Preheat oven to 400.
• combine all ingredients except milk in bowl. mix until mixture resembles a fine crumb. add the milk and beat well.
• on a greased baking pan roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. cut into 3/4 inch squares (I used a pizza cutter) or other shapes if you desire.
• prick tops with fork and bake for 10 minutes (I cooked for 15 minutes for extra cruchiness)

Now I like to give credit where credit is due but I HAVE NO IDEA the name of this book. I just have a copy of the page. Once I find out (from my SIL) I will let you know.

This is what Cooper thought of them....
and just because I have a picture of all my other children, I felt I should include one of my little "clapper" Addy....

Another cute "green" gift or two

Fudge! I love fudge but I hate make it the looonnnggg way. As you know I make everything from scratch these days but fudge is where it take a short cut.

I don't remember where I found this recipe so I am sorry to the person who is not receiving credit for this super easy fudge recipe.

3 cups chocolate
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Melt chocolate in microwave and add other ingredients. Mix until well blended and place in a 9x9 baking dish lined with wax paper. Place in freezer overnight (or until hard). Cut and serve. I wrapped some up for Zach to bring to work this week.

And another tutorial...

Reusable snack bags!


Start with a scrap of fabric in whatever size you wish. I made a smaller one in this tutorial for a little person in my life.

sew right sides together leaving the top open












fold over top so the right side is facing you and sew velcro to the side.












I reinforced the sides after this...

Turn inside out and...wallah..a snack bag.












This took me all of 5 mins a bag ;o)

Sewing project

I FINALLY am feeling like I have some time to do some sewing again. As I was reading a friends blog the other day, I came across this pattern for some dresses. DRESSES! How perfect. I have been itching to make the girls some matching dresses. They were super easy to make and took less than 15 mins for just one. I swear and I am not a seamstress by any means. Thanks Sophie for the pattern.

I am looking forward to making some Christmas ones for the girls and some presents for some little girl friends!