A Lemon Squeezy Home

New Pillows in our Lackluster Front Room

2012-05-30T11:06:00.001-06:00

Our front room, though nice, is lacking desperately in color. Since we are building a house this summer (I know I’ve said this forever, but it looks like it is really going to happen), I don’t want to put a lot of time or money into this room. But it’s just so boring and brown!

I’ve never liked the pillows that came with the couches. The fabric has a hamburger patty pattern. Or lips. Take your pick.

Plus, they’ve frayed in such a way to resemble a cat clawing them on the edges.

We don’t have a cat.

So, I’ve started to try and bring some color into the room. And looking at these pictures, I’m not sure I love it because the fabric is cool tones, which would work with the black portion on the couches, but not so much the brown. Hmm…the dilemma of having black and brown couches.

They are great spring pillows, however. And they bring some nice, bright, happy color that is needed.

I found the green vase at the thrift store a couple years ago that I thought would help tie the pillows in more.

For the pillows, I used THIS tutorial from Sew Katie Did, putting in my first invisible zippers. One of them went great. The other three are questionable, but not very noticeable, so I guess that’s something!

I also put up a print of THIS quote. I’m thinking the lamp shades and glass on the other lamp need to be different. Any thoughts?

I’d love to have a great, colorful quilt in here as well. I am not going to paint it, though that would help brighten it up.

So, let’s hear your thoughts on livening up this room! Maybe painting the little table or doing something about the lamps?

Pillow fabric is Nicey Jane Picnic Bouquet by Heather Bailey.

Baby Girl and Baby Boy: Gift Ideas with Printable

2012-05-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

I have a few friends I’ve been meaning to send baby gifts to, and now their babies are getting so old! I feel a little silly taking so long to do it, but I guess it’s better late than never!

For the flower cards, I made a some flower clips using THIS tutorial from Craftiness is Not Optional, though I sewed parts of my flowers because the glue wasn’t holding very well. I have an accuquilt cutter, but you could just use any flower you make and glue it to a barrette or clip to use with the card. Just cut a small slit and clip onto the card! The barrette shows inside the card, but it doesn’t bother me. You could always add paper inside the card to cover the barrettes up.

Next I needed to think of something simple for a baby boy.

I used my silhouette machine to cut out the glasses shape (found HERE). You could easily take the glasses clip art and use freezer paper and fabric paint (or acrylic works also as long as you heat set the paint).

Finally, they are off to the post office today! Just in time for the next round of babies to be born ;).

Downloads:

Green and Turquoise Baby Girl

Green and Coral Baby Girl

Good Looking Kid

Whimsy Couture Winner

2012-05-16T10:22:00.001-06:00

Sorry I failed to announce this yet. The winner of the Whimsy Couture patterns is:

Deolinda Gandra!

Congrats!

(I will be starting to delete the comments after giveaways are over, so your email addresses are no longer on my blog!)

Happy Mother’s Day! (and Race for the Cure Re-cap)

2012-05-14T10:01:00.001-06:00

I hope all of you women had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I know this time of year can be great for some, and hard for others. If you are one who has lost your Mother, or any other wonderful woman in your life, I hope you were able to feel peace reflecting on the impact they had on you. If you are one who is unable to have children, I hope you were able to see the way you still nurture and change lives for the better. If you are a woman who is a Mother, I hope you were able to stop being hard on yourself for a day and see the good you are doing or have done in your child or children’s lives.

This Mother’s Day weekend was spent in part (as I mentioned Friday) with my mom and step-dad in the Race for the Cure. It was a really neat experience to be there to support my step-dad and talk about the loss of his first wife to cancer. There were over 12,000 people there. Seeing the examples of so many strong women who were battling cancer or were survivors was awesome. Seeing those who were honoring and supporting their loved ones was amazing.

There was just a feeling of power and love there. My walking buddies were great company.

We had some good laughs from the creativity of those around us.

and of course had a good workout.

Five on Friday

2012-05-11T09:12:00.001-06:00

1. I’ve been jogging 3 days a week for the past month and a half and have finally worked up to 3.2 miles. I’m getting better and better at it. I know some people run much further distances than that, but for me this has been a HUGE accomplishment! I have never in my entire life jogged that far. I’m training for the Dirty Dash with friends, and a 5k with my siblings, both in June. I’m also walking tomorrow in the Race for the Cure with my Mom and step-dad Karl. My step-dad’s first wife passed away from breast cancer. This race is quite the amazing event! You can click HERE to donate in her memory (all proceeds going to sponsor research for the cure!)

2. Speaking of jogging…I get terrible side aches and my chest has a burning knot in the middle every time. and sometimes my throat feels like it’s closed up and I can’t swallow! Basically I feel like I’m gonna die. Does anyone else have this hard of a time jogging? Because wow, it’s really discouraging some days when I jog and I can only hope that it will get better with time. I’ve read a lot on breathing techniques and I take allergy pills…any other ideas on what might help? My brother forwarded me THIS video and I loved it. Inspiring and also explained some things I’ve always wondered about with running, though I have no desire to ever run a full marathon!

3. My kids only have 2 weeks left of school and I am giddy with excitement for them to be home!!! Summer break is going to be busy, but so much fun! I need to start deciding on some type of schedule for them, along with lots of fun outings. Oh my goodness, how I love summer time!

4. Have you heard what Cheri (I Am Momma) is starting on her blog? Most likely you have, but if not, it’s called For the Love and sounds like it will be really awesome. It’s for charity, and there are tutorials and auctions involved. Really cool idea.

5. If you haven’t been following Delia’s Mammarazzi series (on Delia Creates), you need to! It’s so full of wonderful photography info! I still love photography and I’m trying to improve all the time. I wish I could devote more time, but this series has already helped me understand things better.

Frumpy Shirt Refashion and Tutorial

2012-05-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Ever realize you haven’t posted a guest post? This was one from Cheri’s blog, I Am Momma—Hear Me Roar, during her Refashionista even last fall. Thought I’d bring it on home!

I found this thrifted shirt that was too big and a bit frumpy, and turned it into something that I love.

The tie-neck was what appealed to me initially so I kept that feature and got to work on the rest.

I’m sure there are more correct ways of altering a shirt to fit, but here is how I do it every time. First, I needed to take in the sides and the arms were a bit too large as well. I like to try on the shirt and get an idea how much I need to take off. Remember that it is always better to sew little by little—I’d much rather not have to unpick! You can see how I curve the stitching so that I will get a better fit around the bust and waist.

Try it on and see if you still need to take it in a bit. I needed to and so I just stitched with my pressure foot edge along the already-stitched line. This way it’s little by little and I don’t end up taking the shirt in too much. Repeat on other side of shirt.

Now for the shoulder seams. It was too large on the shoulders, so I took the top of the sleeve and sewed about a 1/4” stitch from the original seam.

You can see I only sewed about 2”- 3” down either side of the middle of the shoulder. Since I’m not sewing too far in, the sleeve will still have that nice gathered portion at the shoulder.

Next we’ll do the sleeves. I cut off the bottom portion first. Then I cut a 4” piece of the sleeve to use as the cuff. So you’ll have two pieces now for the sleeve cuffs.

I figured out where I wanted the cuff to fall and measured around my arm to make sure it would be big enough.

I pinned the cuff where it needed to be sewn to fit my arm, and zig-zag stitched the edge after cutting off the excess (next 3 pictures).

I folded each cuff in half so the wrong sides were together, right sides out, still forming a circle.

I tried on the shirt again and took note where I wanted the shirt to fall, minus the cuff portion and cut off the excess fabric.

See how my cuff is smaller than my sleeve?

I sewed a basting stitch around the arm-hole and gather by pulling on the strings until it is the same size as the cuff.

I pinned the cuff onto the gathered portion, matching up seams and placing the raw edges together evenly.

I stitched 1/4” and zig-zag or serge the edges to help control fraying.

And there you have it! A really easy way to refashion a shirt. It looks much better now!

Even better belted.

And my favorite—with a cardigan and belt!

Such a quick and easy refashion! So next time you see a shirt that has great fabric or great details, don’t pass it up because the fit isn’t right or it’s too big. Chances are you can work with it for a few minutes for something great!

Whimsy Couture Pattern Review and Giveaway

2012-05-08T10:31:00.001-06:00

(giveaway closed: comments deleted to protect commenters’ email addresses)

I was asked if I wanted to review a pattern of my choice from Whimsy Couture. I’ve been wanting to make Poppy a jacket, so I thought the Hooded Jacket pattern for Boys or Girls (Reversible) was a great option.

You are sent the pattern via email, which is very convenient. The pattern and instructions were clear. I love that it is reversible, though I didn’t have enough buttons the same size to make it so just yet. I used a thick knit and a thinner knit for my jacket and it worked out just fine. I believe the pattern recommends cotton for one side, and fleece for the other, but the knit worked great. I think it helps that the turquoise knit was so thick.

The jacket came together quickly after cutting the fabric out. The only items I would change is to maybe taper the jacket out a bit so it isn’t so snug around the bottom (it has to fit around those cute toddler bellies!), and I’d make the hood smaller. I’d also do a better job at placing my buttons, but that was entirely up to me and not by fault of the pattern!

I love how you can see the inside fabric on the hood, and by folding the cuffs.

And of course we have to see if it pleases the most important critic…

Yep, she loves it. It’s been a while since I’ve sewn anything for my kids other than smaller things, so it was fun to make time for that again!

Whimsy Couture has SO MANY cute patterns! Some that stick out to me are:

The Apron Twirl Peasant Dress

The Over Top/Dress (the apron part, not the entire thing)

or the Criss Cross Tunic

Lots and lots of great patterns.

WANT A CHANCE TO WIN YOUR CHOICE OF A THREE PATTERN BUNDLE (WORTH $20.00) FROM WHIMSY COUTURE?

To enter, you must “like” Whimsy Couture on their facebook page, then leave a comment letting me know you did that, along with your thoughts on what pattern(s) you like. Please leave an email address where I can contact you if you win.

Giveaway runs through Friday, May 11th, at 5:00 pm MST. Good luck!

*You can also enter the code SAVE50 to receive 50% off your purchase in their PATTERN SHOP. Yay!

Confidence Printable

2012-05-02T11:36:00.001-06:00

It was late at night earlier this week. I was browsing YouTube videos (which I rarely do, but past a certain time at night, my brain really doesn’t think straight) and somehow through the recommended videos of recommended videos, I ended up watching some about teens being bullied about how they look. And not just kind of hurtful comments from their peers, but things that will likely stick with those girls and boys forever. It was heartbreaking!

I want so much for my children to have confidence in themselves as a person, and feel comfortable with their image, regardless of whether or not they live up to the world’s standards of beauty or good looks. I also try to teach them to never say unkind things to others. Isn’t amazing how we can probably all remember hurtful comments made from even say, elementary school? I want to teach my children that! Because even though they may forget that they said hurtful things, sometimes those kids might not forget. I also want to teach them to forgive if they are the recipient of those comments.

Poppy had chosen a book at the library, and the point of the book was great. The book is “I Like Myself” by Karen Beaumont, and is about loving who you are.

Sometimes I wish I remembered to think like this as well! And I’m 31!

(click on these links to be directed to an up do 8x10 printable: red, green, blue, pink)

Bike Basket: Tutorial

2012-04-26T06:00:00.000-06:00

This was post I wrote for Kate’s Ruffle Series a few weeks ago.

I know I’ve done a couple variations of bike baskets (check the tutorial archives), but I’m kind of in love with bike baskets. I love how they are so convenient and practical, but can be totally cute at the same time. But having recently stopped by Walmart and seeing the price tags of bike baskets, you could easily make your own for much cheaper! This time I wanted to keep it really simple—a project that can easily be done in an hour or less. And since ruffles are such a beautiful compliment to so many items, I thought a ruffle would be perfect to liven up this bike basket.

First you’ll want to choose the right basket. One that has a somewhat flat side to lay against the bike’s front, one that is wide enough and deep enough. I found this basket at the thrift store for $1.50.

What you’ll need:

-basket
-fabric (I used 1/4 a yard, but how much fabric you need depends on how far around your basket is)
-about one package extra wide double folded bias tape
-glue gun

First measure around the top of the basket where your ruffle will be added.

Take that number and add half of it to itself, so mine was about 40”, I added half of that, so 20” and came up with 60”. So I cut a strip 4” x 60”. If you want a wider or thinner ruffle, adjust the 4” number I gave you. You’ll have to cut two strips of fabric most likely and sew them together.

Fold the strip of fabric in half length-wise, wrong sides together. Sew two basting stitches close to the edge, making sure to stay close enough to the edge that the bias tape will cover your stitching.

Pull the two basting threads to gather the strip, measuring it against your basket to make sure you gather it enough or not too much.

Next sandwich the raw, gathered edge between the bias tape and sew (narrow edge of bias tape on the top). I decided I’d use cream instead of the navy blue in the first pictures ;).

Heat your glue gun and starting in the middle back, start gluing on the bias tape and sticking it onto the basket. Keep in mind that you’ll be using ties and will need a small gap in two places to stick the ties through.

When you get to the end, cut off any excess if there is any, fold the raw edge under, and glue the rest of the way.

I just used some leftover bias tape for the ties.

Tie it onto your bike, and you are done!

A cute, quick, and inexpensive bike basket! I’ve always wanted to ride my bike to a field and gather some wild flowers to put in my bike basket, with some fresh bread or something. Happy ruffling!

Five on Friday

2012-04-20T09:44:00.001-06:00

1. Last night was so fun! My mother in law took all her daughters-in-law and some of the granddaughters to see Celtic Woman, plus we ate at Buca di Beppo (yum!). The concert was SO GOOD! They sound like angels and I’m reminded of how unfair it is to be beautiful and be able to sing, ha ha! No, but really, it was a wonderful evening. I’m a fan.

picture source

2. I had a major spring top fail this week, using this beautiful fabric. Ugh! I was using a dress pattern and planned on shortening it to make a shirt, adding sleeves using another pattern. I cut into this fabric, and worked on the shirt for 4 hours, only to find that even had it worked out as planned, the bodice was way too small. I almost cried, but then reminded myself that I have enough fabric to salvage to make something for Poppy still, and got over it. Almost.

3. I took my three kiddos to the Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple in Salt Lake last weekend. It was fun. It was messy. But Poppy hated strangers coming up to throw chalk in her face. I couldn’t blame her, so I held her the whole time to ‘protect her’, and thus ended up not near as dirty as my boys! But what is so cool is that everyone is there, throwing chalk at each other, and smiling. Kids that otherwise looked like they might beat my kids up if they threw anything in their face anywhere else, just laughed and threw it back at them. It was a good time. My boys LOVED it!

Well, for most of us anyway…

4. We are having some friends over on Sunday for some English dining. My husband served an LDS mission to England and wants to make Cornish pasties since our friends have British ties as well. Yum! But the only problem is, we haven’t made them in years and I’m hoping to have a great recipe for them. Anyone know of one?

picture source

5. It was so fun to read your own tips on saving money on Wednesday’s post. Thank you! And thanks for the tips on my stroller! Guess I should have done my research a little better because I’m finding whole forums based on tightening that bolt on the stroller to fix it! Such an easy fix—I still need to do it but I hope it works!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Saving Money: Thrifting, Sewing, Groceries and more.

2012-04-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. This post has been a long time coming and I’m excited to finally have it put together to post. I’m going to go over a few things that help my family save money, and hopefully you will find something in here that will help you as well.

THRIFTING:

I enjoy thrift shopping. And I have no shame in admitting that even in junior high and high school, though a little embarrassing at the time, I totally had to shop there for clothes. I did in elementary school as well but didn’t know it wasn’t ‘acceptable’ and people thought it was gross. Thank goodness so many do it today and it’s kind of the cool thing to do, right? You can imagine how awkward it was when I bought a cute shirt from DI, wore it to school, and had someone say, “That’s a cute shirt! I used to have one like that…” Uh yah, and then you gave it to DI and I bought it.

So I’m seasoned in thrift shopping.

Obviously to save money, you just don’t go shopping. Sometimes I stay away from the thrift store because I don’t need anything. But sometimes I’m feeling like something new to change up my home a bit, and even though I don’t need it, it helps me save money by thrifting rather than buying new. But maybe your child needs a new pair of shoes, or you need a new dish because yours broke. Shopping used has really helped my family out financially in these circumstances!

Hands down the best deals you will find on clothing, dishware, furniture, books, etc. will be at Deseret Industries, estate sales, and yard sales.

Savers is also pretty good. I have yet to stop at a Salvation Army because there isn’t one very close to where I live. I seriously have to limit my trips to DI because I always find something to bring home!

Here are some of my finds from the last couple trips:

cups, .50 cents each.

I get SO many pairs of my shoes there, and never pay more than $6.00/pair. See THIS post for two pairs of shoes I thrifted and fancied up a bit.

Pink shoes for Poppy, $2.00. I also bought her six pair of princess dress up shoes for .50 cents each.

I also love to get little knick-knacks for holidays or baskets for gifts while thrifting. THIS bike basket was made using a thrifted basket.

Patterns! Thrift stores are great for patterns! I made Poppy’s birthday dress out of this pattern, and I adore it! I probably have over 30 patterns bought for $0.25 or $0.50 at DI.

This isn’t a thrifted find, but sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time. I don’t love character themed clothing or shoes for my kids, but I was at Walmart at the right time and scored these shoes for $3.00, not the $13.00 they are marked as. I was so happy because he really needed some new shoes at the time.

THRIFTING TOUR:

After looking up the Alt Summit schedule from earlier this year, I found Liz Stanley was a speaker there and was taking people on a thrifting shopping spree. Since I couldn’t go, I looked up her blog and she had written a post about some fun shops around Salt Lake! Perfect! I could go on my own tour. So I’m showing you three places she mentioned.

First I stopped at Decades. This is one awesome place! I was amazed at the vintage clothing choices they had at this store! There was also a selection of antique clothing that was quite old, probably from the early 1900’s. And lots of hats and jewelry! I was disappointed that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside, because it had such great things.

See the cute black and white coat in the display window? It was still there last time I drove past. It’s a size small and $45.00 I believe. Cute cute. So it’s not really inexpensive clothing, but if you appreciate fashion and looking back through older styles of clothing, it’s a really fun place to walk around.

I did buy a dress that was $15.00. It has beautiful fabric and I have plans to refashion it. The dress was bought on a whim and I kind of wish I hadn’t bought it, but it should be cute once I work with it a bit.

Next stop was this furniture store called Elemente (which I am pretty sure was the culprit of a parking ticket I unknowingly acquired, so be careful where you park!). There was a ton of unique, used furniture in this store. It had pretty good prices for furniture as well. Couches, mirrors, book cases, tables…downstairs they have some furniture that is a bit more damaged, but could be refinished and look great.

My last stop on Liz’s list was Abode. Well, I lie—the last stop was Home Again but it wasn’t used furniture as far as I could tell, and too much money for me! Abode had a pretty good variety of clothing, sheets, small home décor items, vintage handkerchiefs, and vintage children’s clothing.

But I will tell you that I bought this cute pyrex dish you see below at DI for $1.50 and they had the exact same one at abode for $15.00. So again, DI has proven to be the best place to find things if you are there at the right time!

Yard Sales and KSL:

If you have the time and energy to get up Saturday mornings and hit the yard sales during the warmer months, then great! My husband is often gone Saturday mornings and I find it hard for me to get up and take three kids with me to them. I often just drive by if I’m looking for larger items. I know if I got out and looked I’d probably find some treasures, but until I can go alone I’m not a big Yard Sale shopper, even though it is very appealing to me.

I buy and sell a lot of things online using the classifieds. But be careful and try and research what you are buying, along with thinking of any questions you need to know answers to. I bought a stroller recently for jogging, and although it was a great price at $60.00, and had great reviews, I should have paid attention to ALL of the reviews, good or bad. If I had paid attention to the few negative reviews on Amazon about the front wheel shaking while jogging, I would have asked the lady if it did that. Well, I bought the stroller, went jogging, and the front wheel shakes when I jog. So I will re-sell it and be honest about what they are getting, but just thought I’d throw that out there as a word of caution!

Estate Sales:

I recently have started to receive emails from a sweet friend who forwards Estate Sales on to me. As Estate Sales are still new to me, I don’t know a lot about them but will share a little of what I’ve found. The first one I went to the style just wasn’t what I like, but I did end up with the four Harry Potter books we didn’t have for $7.00. Estate Sales also vary in price depending on the company hired to do them. You’ll find some furniture seems very reasonably priced, and others are priced so much higher that it is confusing. Although I am pretty sure you can negotiate prices. A couple months ago I went to one that opened at 10, but I arrived at 10:30 having already stopped at another Estate Sale. I wish I had stopped at this one first because the man from Decades was there with SIX HUGE GARBAGE bags full of clothing to be sold at his store, obviously priced much higher than what he paid for them (he is trying to run a business so I understand that—I just wish I had been there sooner!). I bought over 20 yards (or even 30-40 yards) of fabric for $7.00. LOVE LOVE LOVE that top blue one! I’m thinking maybe a dress.

It is a little strange going through items belonging to someone who has passed away. I agree with Katy’s post HERE.

LEARN TO SEW!

I say this not to make your own wardrobe, but to keep your eye out for clothing that is on a super great clearance, or at the thrift store, even if they aren’t the right size. In the outfit below, the skirt was too big by four inches so I took it in, the cardigan was too large so I took in the sides, and I made the camisole top much cuter by buying 2 for $5.00, and since they both had lace bottoms, used the lace from one to add to the other. The cardigan was $7.00 and the skirt was $12.00 (a little more than I’d like to pay normally, but still a great deal). The necklace was a gift. But what I’m saying is that if I didn’t sew, I’d have to pass up the clothes because they wouldn’t look good. And the fixes I did on these were so simple that a beginner can totally do these. (camera skills courtesy of my 6 year old!)

And don’t forget my black shoes thrifted at DI for $5.00. Tights on sale at Walmart for $4.50.

GROCERIES:

I’m just quickly going to mention two sites. (they don’t know I’m mentioning them, I just truly find them great). The first one is for produce, and it’s called Bountiful Baskets, and I believe you can do this in quite a few states, but I’m not positive on that. I’m not ALWAYS thrilled with the quality, but I have been happy with it for the most part. You can also get delicious breads from them. The second is one I pay $5.00/month to subscribe to, and it’s called Deals to Meals, but is specific for Utah. I’m sure there are sites like this one for other states. I save at least $1.25/week on my grocery bill using them, so I feel it’s worth it. Basically, it checks all the ads and lets me know the best deals so I can price match or go to the individual stores. Even with the $5.00/month fee, it saves me time and money. Obviously, coupons and things like that are also great, but I used to do couponing and simply don’t have time anymore. Also, going grocery shopping less often really has helped me save a lot!

ONLINE SHOPPING:

I’ll also just link here to two and you can check them out (again, just my opinion, not being paid to mention them). Freebies to Deals, and Groupon (as if you haven’t heard of them). I love those sites! I know there are TONS of other ones and I use some of them, but those are my faves. In fact, I just bought some awesome apparel fabric with a groupon that I paid $15.00 for $30.00 worth of fabric. Yay! I also love when they come out with Old Navy coupons because I get some killer deals when I shop their clearance racks.

AUTO SAVINGS:

You might think this is an odd thing to add to this post, but I just wanted to share an easy way to save money on auto repairs. My husband is a great handy man around the house, but he isn’t into fixing cars beyond very simple things. I find that when I get a quote for something wrong with my van, it’s pretty ridiculous, and I understand they need to make a living but man, it’s hard to come up with the amount of money they ask for! So what I’ve started to do is get the quote and find out what is needed. Rather than having the place do it all (the labor and providing the part), I go to Autozone or some other auto parts store, buy the part, then call around and find the cheapest place to do the labor with the part(s) I already bought. No joke, I have saved at least $150.00 EVERY TIME I’ve done this! The part is under warranty at the place I bought it, and the labor is warrantied.

What about you? What are some of your money-saving tips?

Easter 2012

2012-04-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

I made Mr. Zippy’s tie using THIS tutorial from Sharing the Wealth (and yes, it’s too long by my own fault, but I just need to re-tie it and it will work). I made Sunshine’s bow tie using my own pattern found HERE, and for Poppy, I bought a dress at Old Navy about a month ago (cheater, I know, but I LOVE it) and just made a quick bow for her hair to match. I hope your Easter was great!

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Also, I’m kind of floored that my easy peasy shirt made it into the ‘top of the tops’ of week two for Rae’s Spring Top Sewalong, because well, there are a lot I consider much better than mine, ha! But go vote for your favorite, and I’m most certainly not asking you to vote for mine! Voting closes this Friday at 12 noon EST.

Guest Posting on See Kate Sew

2012-04-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Have you been following See Kate Sew’s Ruffle Series?

There are a lot of great posts going on over there! Today I’m sharing how you can turn an inexpensive thrifted basket into a bike basket.

Click HERE to say hello!

The Easy Peasy Shirt: Tutorial

2012-04-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

In case you missed me a couple weeks ago on Sewing in No Man’s Land, here’s the tutorial I shared there.

Made from a fun knit fabric (Joann), this shirt is comfortable and light. It’s also perfect alone, belted, or for layering. And it’s SO easy to make!

You’ll need:

-a form fitting shirt (mine is a modbe shirt)

-about a yard of stretch or knit fabric (more or less depending on size you are making and length of the shirt)

-elastic (measure around the part of the waist you want the shirt gathered at, adding just about a half inch, and that’s how much elastic you’ll want)

-twin needle (mine is a 4/80), and also says for stretch fabrics on the back of the package.

*Please note that you will see my edges are serged as the tutorial progresses. You in no way need a serger to complete this shirt, and I’ve not included that step anywhere in the tutorial. In fact, I don’t think it helped any because the twin needle does a fine job finishing your garment—I suppose it was more for the inside seams but since this fabric doesn’t fray, I didn’t need to serge the edges at all. Just personal preference—you could zig-zag the unfinished inside seams if you want them polished.

*Also, don’t be afraid of using a twin needle. They are so easy to use and have such professional results! I love mine and will be using it much more often now that I’ve gotten over my fear of them! See HERE, HERE, and HERE for great sources on using a twin needle. The only thing I saw different is one says make sure the thread is coming off the spool the same direction, and the other says the opposite—they both said because it will prevent the thread from twisting. I tried it both ways and both times I had mine twist together once, so I’m not sure which is the correct way.

Lay out your shirt on your fabric, double layered.

Measure about 4” out from the bottom hem and cut a square or rectangle, if you would like more length. I cut a 24” x 24” square, but wish I had added about 3” to the bottom and made mine 24” x 27”. You can learn from my mistakes and make your shirt longer if you want ;).

Now take one layer at a time, fold in half, and cut the same neckline using your fitted shirt as the guide (if you like the neckline of course—change it if you would like!). The front is normally lower than the back, of course.

Lay the layers on top of each other again, matching up the corners. Fold in half.

If you want to give your shirt a bit more shape, you can cut off a small slant as pictured below:

Next, measure about 10” down from the corner of the shoulder.

Cut a tiny 1/4” snip or make some type of mark by that 10”.

Starting from the lower corner (all the layers still matched at corners and folded in half), cut a curve from the bottom corner to the 10” mark as pictured. I’m obviously no pattern drafter!

Unfold shirt and match corners, right sides together. Starting where the scissors are pointing, pin and sew ONE side seam together, using a 1/4” seam, leaving the armhole open.

Open your shirt at the side seam so you’ll have one long strip of fabric, but not sewn at the armholes.

Try the shirt on as best as you can and get a feel as to where you want the gathered portion of the shirt to fall on your torso. Measure out enough elastic to fit around that portion of you. I marked where mine should be gathered and it ended up about 5” down from the curve of the armhole. Mark that at each side of the shirt and connect the marking with a line in chalk or other non-permanent marking device, across the shirt. You’ll have drawn one long line where you will sew your elastic onto. Hopefully the pictures will help that make more sense if that is confusing.

Making sure you measured the elastic for where you want it to be on your body, start in the middle of the elastic at the sewn side seam, and sew the elastic along the line you just marked above, stretching the elastic to make sure it will make it to the other end of the shirt. This will gather the shirt as you stretch the elastic.

After you reach one end, start again with the sewn side seam and sew that elastic towards the other end, following the same steps for stretching the elastic. With right sides together, sew the other side seam together.

Now for the finishing touches. Swap your single needle for the twin needle. If you don’t have another matching spool of thread, wind a bobbin and put both on the spool. Thread the machine as if you only had one thread, but holding both strands. Once you get down to the needle, untwist the strands and thread each needle. Again, refer to the sources at the beginning of the post for a more thorough explanation of using a twin needle.

We’ll start with the neckline and fold under the fabric about a 1/2”, but pin on the top, not the bottom.

Starting at one of the seams, start sewing, making sure to backstitch at the start and finish. I just followed the edge of my presser foot.

See? Beautiful!

After the neckline is complete, hem the sleeves and the bottom the same way. You can choose to use a larger hem on the bottom if you want. Since I made mine shorter than I had wanted, I just used a 1/2” there as well.

Ta-Da! All done! It really is SUCH a non-complicated shirt to sew, and finished in very little time!

Texas!

2012-03-30T06:00:00.000-06:00

Before I blog about my little vacation to Texas, I wanted to let you all know of some changes to picasa that are so exciting to me, if you haven’t seen them yet! You can check them out HERE, but to give you a quick rundown, they have some great effects like picnik used, and I am thrilled with them! The only thing I would like picasa to add now is better collage options, and the sticker options for labeling your pictures with a tutorial title, for example. But hopefully those will come in the future. For now, I’m happy they are improving their free software, and I don’t have to upload every single picture as I did in picnik—they are already imported into picasa when I put pictures on my computer, and I don’t have to be connected online to use it, making editing pictures MUCH faster! Hurray!

Also, thanks for all the fun comments on Poppy’s new hairdo. It’s funny how common it is for little kids to cut their own hair!

______________________________________________________________________________________

My brother and I went to Dallas to visit my Dad this past weekend. What a beautiful place it is!

My Dad lives in Uptown Dallas right next to a beautiful trail called the Katy Trail. Such a pretty place!

We stopped to walk by the Dallas Temple. Such a unique and beautiful building!

We had a lot of great food. This place was amazing.

The Dallas Arboretum was breathtaking!

I also enjoyed my first Chinese massage. It was amazing!

This next food is from Truluck’s. Another amazing seafood restaurant! My Dad totally spoiled us. Pappadeaux and Truluck’s had THE BEST seafood I have ever tasted. Clam chowder, lobster bisque, salmon, shrimp—NOTHING had any type of rubbery texture at all and everything was flown in fresh daily. It was divine!

My Dad has great decorating skills. This bed was surrounded by some big walls, and rather than investing in some expensive art that he likes, he put curtains up to make it look like there were windows, when there really isn’t! I thought that was genius!

My Dad has always listened to the Beatles since they were big, and I’m thankful for that because I also love them. I LOVED this art he had in his office! Would be fun to try and replicate as a DIY!

Loved this sign! ;)

I miss having my Dad close, but he’s lived farther away for quite some time. Me and my siblings are trying to convince him to move to Utah, and he’s thinking about it, so hopefully it will happen! He’s a great guy and it was fun to hang out with him and my brother for a couple days!

When Momma Leaves Town…

2012-03-28T13:43:00.001-06:00

…Her 3 1/2 year old will give herself a Mullet.

I went to Texas this past weekend to visit my dad. It was a great time (beautiful weather!) and I’ll share a few pictures from my trip later, but this was fun to come home to. Dillon had sent me pictures already on my phone and my dad, brother, and I had a good laugh.

(her hair is wet from combing it before we went to get it cut)

After calling my friend who cuts hair, and sending her a picture, she said she could get her right in. So we went and got it as even as we could!

I feel like she’s a baby again, waiting for her hair to grow in!

What a silly girl. Dillon was downstairs and she said she had to go potty. She was taking a long time, so he went up to check on her and she was just coming out of the bathroom and the first thing she said was, “It’s going to take a long time to grow back.” She kept flipping her few locks left and asking her brothers, “Do you like my cute new haircut?”

Yep, especially this part underneath.

The only thing that kind of makes me sad is that last week I was able to start braiding her hair—my first French braid ever! I had to youtube it and started practicing and was so excited for her to have long enough hair to braid!

But whatever…we helped her feel ok about it and told her it was a good job, but to only let mom or professionals do it next time.

My way of thinking has always been, ‘it’s just hair, it will grow.’ And now she has a cute bob for spring time!

Guest Post Tutorial on Sewing in No Man’s Land!

2012-03-20T08:33:00.001-06:00

I know! Two tutorials in one week—that hasn’t happened here for months. This one you just have to click over to the amazing Sewing in No Man’s Land to see! This shirt is SO easy to sew! I am so happy Kelly asked me to blog over there for her and kojo design’s Sewing for Me series. Kelly is amazingly talented and so sweet. I’d love if you stopped by and said hello HERE!

Removable Lace Ruffles: Shoe Refashion Tutorial

2012-03-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

This is nothing brilliant but it’s very easy to do and I love the outcome.

Now let me just put it out there right away that you in no way need to make these lace ruffles removable with the velcro. You could just glue that lace right to your shoe and you’d be good to go! The lace adds such a feminine, flirty, and vintage look to the shoes! The reason I made mine removable is because I can add some velcro to other ruffles or lace and swap them for the lace to change the look of the shoes!

Here’s what you’ll need:

-A pair of shoes (if making them removable with the velcro, they should be a half size bigger than you normally wear, simply because the velcro will add a bit around the shoe and make them snugger than they were. If not using the velcro to make the lace removable, your normal size is great!)

-velcro

-E-6000 glue

-clothespins

-pre-gathered lace

Measure your shoes from the two points you want the lace to start and end.

Mine was 10” so I cut a 10” piece of velcro, then from that I cut about 1/3 of it off (I believe it’s 1” wide Velcro I used).

Using that thin 1/3 of velcro, glue the back of the soft side with the E-6000 glue.

Glue the velcro around the inside portion of the shoe where you want the lace, near the top, but not letting the velcro end up above the top of the shoe. Secure your velcro with clothespins so that it sticks and doesn’t come up.

You might want to check occasionally to make sure the gaps in between the clothespins. Repeat with other shoe.

While the glue dries (you’ll want to give it quite a while, at least an hour I’d say) take the lace and cut the same length you measured (mine was 10”) and take scratchy side of the velcro you cut thin. Zig zag stitch the velcro to the lace, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.

Once the glue has dried, attach the lace to the shoe with the velcro! As I said, your shoes will be a little more snug, so choosing a shoe that is a little larger than you normally wear is a good idea if making the removable lace ruffles. If you want to take the lace off with the option of adding it later, because you use the soft portion of the velcro, you shouldn’t notice that it’s even added to your shoe. I didn’t notice a big difference and it was still totally comfortable!

The possibilities are so fun! And if you like the look enough, just glue that lace right to your shoe to stay! You could probably peel it off if you get tired of the look!

An easy project with fun results!

Five on Friday

2012-03-16T09:31:00.001-06:00

1. We finally got enough snow last week that my kids could play in it for over a couple hours and it didn’t melt during that time. They built forts. Last week’s storm was a big one, and it’s about time! It’s been so strange in Utah the last couple years for winter! I remember my family moving here from Wyoming in 1991 or 1992, and there being snow days and piles and piles of SNOW to play in, all the time! I remember my Uncles jumping off the roof they just shoveled snow off of, into a huge snow pile. That just doesn’t happen anymore! I guess I should have braved the cold and taken my kids sledding, because it’s now in the lovely 60’s here and it’s been wonderful! Have I mentioned that I hate to be cold. It’s unfortunate that I feel cold 90% of the time.

2. I’m trying to find some good ideas for our quiet bag. The bag that is supposed to have enough quiet things in it to help my children last through church. My friend (the same who does Ten on Tuesdays) posted THIS and I will try some of them. Do any of you have more ideas to help us out while at church? If only they made Bible characters as Legos. Then at least my kids might refrain from making Ninjago noises during church.

3. If you sew or craft or create in some way, do you agree that you appreciate a handmade gift so much more? I received a wonderful surprise in the mail last week from a friend I “met” blogging (we haven’t met in real life, but I love her blog and she’s super talented) and it seriously made my month! I will never forget that act of kindness, and I LOVE what she sent me so much! But what was even sweeter was the beautiful handwritten note inside the package. It meant so much to me that she thought of me and took the time out of her busy life to do that. I love thoughtful people!

4. I love finding new blogs that I think, “Where have I been? I didn’t know you existed!” But it’s also one of those, “NOoooooo, I don’t have time to add another one to my list!” Yet there are so many inspiring places to drop by for a minute. How often do you sift through your google reader, and how many blogs do you follow regularly? Do you have any that I might like? Maybe you shouldn’t tell me ;). I apparently have little self control when finding lovely blogs to enjoy.

5. I have some new names for my kids for this here blog. I love their real names (of course) and I’d love to share, but I just want a little privacy for them. I’ve never liked to type just the first initial of their name. It feels too impersonal and I feel like so many of you know my kids and I appreciate your kind comments regarding them! Anyway, here they are:

Mr. Zippy. Previously known here as C, my eight year old son. Why Mr. Zippy? Because he’s full of life and loves to have fun, is energetic, and very spirited. This seems to be the only word in the English language that encompass his personality!

Sunshine. Previously known here as D, my seven year old son. I picked the name Sunshine for him because he’s such a happy and positive kid. He loves everyone around him and helps everyone around him to be happy!

Poppy. Previously known here as B, or Little Miss B, my three year old daughter. I picked the name Poppy for her because Dillon and I were trying to think of something cute, but a bit on the wild side. So we thought of wildflowers and eventually I decided upon Poppy because I love everything about them. They are bright, cheery, and grow wild. This little girl is so fun and even when she’s being a bit naughty, she always has a spark in her eye and keeps us laughing with her feisty but sweet personality.

I hope your weekend is full of sunshine and smiles (and lollipops and rainbows)!

Babies Babies!

2012-03-15T18:00:00.000-06:00

Does it seem like blog-land has exploded with a huge amount of babies lately? I love seeing all these new ones! I’m also surrounded by a lot of new babies in real life as well. My sister-in-law just had a baby boy last week and he’s so cute! I told Dillon I couldn’t wait to hold him, and I got to yesterday. I’m loving holding all these new ones.

I used No Big Dill’s tutorial once again for the blanket.

Then I found a cute bib saying online and used my silhouette to make this—I should have used red or black paint because the yellow didn’t show up well, plus the textured fabric didn’t work well for reading the words. Oh well. You win some, you lose some (or a lot, ha!).

I just wish I had enough time to send out presents to all the ladies with new babies whose blogs I follow! I’ve had a goal for a very long time to just crank out a ton of bibs, blankets, burp clothes, diaper clutches, etc. so that I am READY to send out a present when a baby is born!

Kites and Parenting

2012-03-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Sunday night I promised my kids that after they came home from school on Monday I would take them to the park with a large field so we could fly kites, if it was windy. Sunday, I was flying high and felt like I could conquer the world. The weather has been beautiful the past couple of days and that, in addition to just feeling happy and peaceful, was wonderful. Monday I was feeling much less so, for some reason. Life would be way too easy if we felt so happy and energetic all the time, right? Although I was able to hang out with one of my best friends and it was a great day, I felt lacking in my energy and attitude as a mom.

The kids came home from school and I wasn’t feeling up to taking them. But take them I did because I told them I would, and windy it was.

As we walked down the street, I thought how it wasn’t hard to take them even though 5 minutes before I thought it was. I knew we’d have a good time and it’d be a memory made. I knew my kids would smile and laugh, probably even fight a little, but we’d work it out and I’d be happy I took them. It’s funny how we sometimes fight against the things that are easy, but it’s the thought of work involved that can hold us back. Once you’re doing it, you’re fine.

I thought about parenthood as we flew those kites. I thought about how much I want these little kids to stay little forever because they are so fun and full of love for Dillon and I. I thought about our struggles and our successes together as a family. The kites would fly high, then dive down and crash. Being a mom feels like that. Sometimes I’m flying high and feeling great, and other days I crash and I crash hard. I can be too emotional, too easily upset, too quick to be angry with my children. Too much of everything I try to teach them not to be.

But there are other moments where things just work. The kids still fight, but they also have beautiful moments together. Happy memories that are almost always simple. Those days I can help them work out their problems without any bad emotion on my part. They help each other out. They are learning. I am learning.

I’m trying hard to focus on my goals as a parent, and how my every day thoughts and actions either help reach that goal or not. Parenting is hard. It’s emotional. It takes a lot of effort and energy and patience. I can only imagine how much those aspects will be emphasized the older my children get.

But these kids know they are loved. These kids know I’m not perfect and forgive me so quickly, because kids are amazing like that. As my sister says, to everything there is a season, and this is my season to be a mom! I have big plans to fly high longer, and not crash so hard when I fall.

Five on Friday

2012-03-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Lori does ‘Ten on Tuesday’ posts and I like it so much that I asked her if it was ok that I try it out on my blog. She said of course, but since I don’t know if I can ever come up with ten things to post about, I thought I’d just change it to Five on Fridays. It might not be an every Friday post, but just when I feel like it. So here we go! It’s completely random things—whatever I feel like sharing with you or asking advice on at the time!

1. I love the blog Enjoying the Small Things. It is my #1 inspirational blog I read. I tear up on most of her posts. They ALL get me thinking of how I can be a better mother, but in a motivational kind of way, not an “oh crap I’m such a bad mom” kind of way. Seriously love it. And you can start HERE to kind of get a feel for what she’s been through and the strength she has if you’ve never been before. Kelle is so real and honest. Another blog I absolutely enjoy is Under the Sycamore. Oh, how I love Ashley's photography skills and her point of view on raising her kids and family. Both these ladies really get it. They are SO inspiring to me.

2. I was contacted by Margaret who is undertaking something so wonderful. She came across a non-profit agency that is working in some of the most remote villages of the world to provide clothing for children who have no more than one old and tattered outfit to their name. They’re doing this by collecting hand-made shorts for boys, and pillowcase dresses for girls. She doesn’t even sew but is willing to make some herself. She asked if I would help spread the word about this great cause. She’s trying to make 50 to send, and all size dresses are accepted, whether it’s 16 or 35 inches long (from shoulder to hem). Any pattern used is fine, and sewers should feel free to include pockets, lace, etc. Cotton is typically the preferred material since most of the dresses will be sent to extremely hot climates, but other materials are accepted as well. The only restriction is that it’s best if you don’t include zippers or buttons, because it's difficult to get them repaired. . If anyone is interested in helping her sew a pillowcase dress(es!) then please contact her at margaretandrade@hotmail.com. She will give you her mailing address where you can send any dresses made to her, and she’ll get them to the right people!

3. I want to get more into Yoga or Pilates. I downloaded a few apps on my phone for it, and I’m so out of shape that even working out for 10 minutes on my abs or legs or whatever, I’m totally sore the next day. So I know it’s working! Can anyone suggest some good Yoga or Pilates DVD’s? I’d love to have any input. Also, you might have a preference over one or the other. Which do you like better?

4. Is it pathetic that when I opened the cupboard and saw my just-purchased-today Rolos, I squealed with delight inwardly (so as not to draw attention to myself or the bag of chocolate) because I get to secretly munch on them the next ~~few~~ couple days? They are hidden from all. No one will eat them but me. Makes me very joyously happy. Please disregard that I JUST asked about Yoga or Pilates. See, my motto is that I exercise to be able to eat those rolos. Just go with it.

5. I signed up for a beginners quilting class and I’m STOKED about it! I’ve been wanting to learn how to quilt for a very long time. If you live in Utah along the Wasatch front, there are four locations to choose from who are doing this awesome deal through Living Social. You only pay $35.00 for four beginning sewing or beginning quilting classes, but that’s not the best part. You also get $50.00 worth of sewing supplies (probably to make the quilt). AWESOME deal. You can click HERE to sign up. (four days left to purchase!)

Star Wars Birthday Party: Part Two

2012-03-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Click HERE for Part One.

GAMES

The idea was to get in teams of two and using just a piece of twine, somehow tie Yoda to you with your partner’s help. Then draw an activity out of the cup and if you can do that activity without touching Yoda with your hands, then you passed. To figure out some fun animals to act like, I typed in “weird star wars animals”. That did the trick.

Tying him on someone turned out to take way too long their attention, so we decided to just put Yoda in the hood of their robes and had them perform the task. It was so cute to see how seriously these kids took the tasks!

Next we played Save Princess Leia!

I printed out two storm troopers onto cardstock using an image found HERE, making sure to leave enough space at the bottom for the ‘stand’. Next I cut them out with the strip at the bottom, looped it together, and taped it to form the stand.

Then we shot the storm troopers with nerf guns. They had fun with this game and wanted to try again and again.

Funny enough, my three year old was the first one to hit one down. I think it’s because of the look on her face.

Next we were off to free Han Solo from the Carbonite he was stuck in!

We don’t have any Han Solo action figures, and I didn’t want to pay $9.00 for one, so I decided to just print off a couple of him (picture found HERE) and laminated him twice to make sure the water didn’t soak through and ruin him. Being made of paper however posed the problem of him floating, so I sanded the back of the laminate a little bit and stuck a waterproof bandaid to the back of him and it worked!

I colored the water to try and look like carbonite but he ended up looking like he was stuck in jello, which, by the way, was another idea I found along the way, Han Solo in Jello to eat. Funny.

The kids split up into two teams. We laid a towel and cookie sheet under each pie dish with frozen Solo. I gave each kid a spoon, and each team got a small cup and a pitcher of warm water. They chipped away and chipped away and poured water and chipped some more. They loved this game!

Darth Vader was taped outside our house for them to spray with silly string.

Next time I’d splurge and get every kid a can of their own. These were at the Dollar Store but I was trying to save a few dollars and only bought three cans. They had a lot of fun spraying, but they would have had a lot more fun if they had their own can.

To make the Darth Vader at home, I saved THIS picture on my computer and opened it in Microsoft Paint. Then you click on file and page setup. Mark the box fit to and change that to make the picture print large on sheets to tape together to make one big picture. Easy!

I have to say some of the kids were a pretty good aim, ha ha!

The last game was Light Saber Training.

Each child was given their foam light saber and a balloon, and they were supposed to make sure the balloon didn’t touch the ground. I’m convinced the kids could have played with the light sabers the entire time! But when asking my kids which their favorite games were, they all named different games from the other.

And lastly, the kids were “dubbed” real Jedi Knights by Dillon. They were given these certificates.

The birthday boy was so sweet during all the preparations and kept telling me thank you and how great everything looked and that he loved me. I think he felt loved, too, which is what I was going for!

Star Wars Birthday Party: Part One

2012-03-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

My middle son turned 7 last week! He is seriously such a sweet kid and brings us so much happiness to our home!

He’s majorly obsessed with Star Wars these days so that was the theme he chose. At first I wasn’t very excited, but man alive, there are a million ideas online for a Star Wars themed party! We had SO MUCH FUN!

So many sources had the same ideas, so I just want to put that out there that I didn’t come up with these ideas…they were all found online on multiple sites, but there were too many to list! I did list the sources for things that were specific to one website, however.

invitAtions

The invitations were light sabers from an idea I found HERE. D was so excited to hand them out to his friends! (I know, oops on the larger silver band on the blue—I made that one first and decided it didn’t leave enough blue on it so made the others smaller).

We had our wording to say this:

Seven years ago in a galaxy far far away,

a young padawan was born.

The council named him _________.

He became a great Jedi! But in order to defeat the

Sith lord he needs all other padawans to

come for their Jedi training. Please hasten to

The Jedi Temple at (address).

May the force be with you!

THE DECoRatioNs

The kids were greeted at the door by this sign, made with star punches taped to black wrapping paper. I used my silhouette machine to cut out the letters.

I bought some Star Wars crepe paper from Zurchers and hung it around the table and of course around the room.

The table was covered with a black tablecloth and silver star confetti. The Yoda plates were purchased at Zurchers also. D’s favorite color is red so we had to get red cups and napkins!

I also chose a well-lit area in my house to put up more black wrapping paper for a sort of backdrop. I wish I had found a black sheet or something that wasn’t reflective and wouldn’t have had seams, but it was too late at that point. The kids still thought it was awesome.

THE FooD

We just kept it simple and ate cupcakes and drank Yoda Soda (green sherbet and 7-Up drink poured on top).

My hubby made fun of the scalloped Darth Vaders, but I didn’t have a hole punch large enough to cut the circles and I was short on time! I must say I agree though. Darth Vader is supposed to look cool and definitely NOT have a scalloped flowery edge! I found the Vader HERE. So yah, just ignore the froofy Vader.

And the perfect-for-light-saber candles were at Walmart. I was so excited when I saw them!

I forgot to take a picture of the Yoda Soda, but here is a picture I found online for some (source—and many great Star War Party ideas there!).

Party Favors

Zurchers was awesome for the party bags…they had a pack for 8 kids which was how many kids we’d have there, for $8.00. Perfect! I also found the play packs in the dollar section of Target a couple months ago, and was pretty happy they fit into the Zurchers bags perfectly. The Zurchers pack came with a Yoda bag, a maze activity sheet, a Yoda sticker, a kaleidoscope, a slinky, and a “whistle” that actually didn’t whistle but sounds just like Darth Vader if you blow in and out the right way.

Each kid also received a foam light saber made from a pool noodle. Since it’s March in Utah and there is snow, no where in my county had swim noodles. So I found a place in Salt Lake that did for $2.00 each (Leslie’s Pool Supply for anyone interested), and each noodle makes two light sabers. I read that someone used the shiny duct tape so I looked at Home Depot and it was $8.00 for a large roll (the cheapest). But Joann had some for $4.00 and I had a 40% off coupon, so it was much cheaper there. I also used black electrical tape I had on hand.

Lastly, as the kids arrived at the party they each received their own brown Jedi Robe.

I found the cheapest brown fabric in the lining section of Joann and used a coupon, so they ended up about $3.60 a robe (I guessed a yard and a half for each kid, and made them using our Harry Potter robes as the template. I’d say go ahead and get one extra yard just to be safe. B’s robe almost didn’t make it and it was smaller than the others). I made 8 robes the day (mostly night) before and to be honest, about half way through I was thinking, “What was I thinking!” But I just kept plugging away.

Seeing them all run around in their robes was so cute and so I decided it was totally worth it. Their little eyes sure lit up when they were handed one to keep!

D’s outfit underneath are all things we had. The thrifted for $3.00 karate shirt underneath just had a patch on the front that I removed and he was good to go!

And what would a Star Wars Party be without Princess Leia?

Tomorrow I’ll be back with the games we played!

Three Dr. Seuss Printables

2012-03-01T02:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss tomorrow!

Hopefully it’s obvious how the colors were inspired from the books the quotes are taken from.

Quote from Oh the Places You’ll Go!

picture source

Quotes from Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?

picture source

Quote is from Happy Birthday to You!

We love Dr. Seuss around my house and my kids have had a great week at school with the fun things they’ve been doing there, and I decided I like so many Dr. Seuss quotes that I’d make a few.

You can find the printables here: FIRST, SECOND, THIRD. Print as 8 x 10 (though they just might be able to be printed larger) and make sure to unclick auto-correct on the color.

Have a happy weekend!