A New Bow

Not much to talk about, I made a new bow yesterday. I didn't take pictures of the steps because I was trying a method I'd never used before, but I thought I'd share a picture so there's a least something to look at today...

I have mixed feelings about it but the girls loved it so I've got that going for me.

That's all for now,
Jo!

PJ Pants

Sorry it's been a while, with spring break and Easter (and managing to lose a camera) I've been a little preoccupied. We're also working on a slow moving bathroom remodel that's picked up pace recently so I've been busy there too. I could show you pictures of painted trim and a newly installed shower doesn't quite seem "crafty." Anyway, as a break today I decided to make a few pairs of pajama pants out of an old shirt my hubby didn't want anymore.

Since they're toddler pants, I figured I'd get two pairs- one from the sleeves and one from the torso- like so:

I traced the pre-existing pair of pants onto fabric. I used the pre-existing hems where possible (bottom of the legs and side of legs on the one from the sleeves). I gave myself a 1/4" seam for the all seams except the waist line, which I gave 1 inch. Then cut them out, pinned together to keep them from moving around too much.

Then I pinned and sewed up the sides of the legs on the pair cut from the torso. 

I then ironed the seams down and added a zigzag for a little decoration. The fabric was a little more stretchy than I'm used to so it's far from perfect but it's just pajama pants and it's the inside seam.

Next I pinned and sewed the two legs together: 

Next I folded down about 1/4" from the waistband and ironed it. 

Then I folded it down another 1/2" and pinned it to make a casing for an elastic band. I also added a tag to mark the back of the pants. 

I threaded the elastic through and stitched it shut. And here are the final products: 

Two similar, but not the same (because that's how dad prefers it) pairs of pajama pants. I accidentally stitched the set made of sleeves inside out, But I kind of like the look of the seams on the outside, and it's one less seam bothering baby legs (well toddler legs, but I refuse to call them anything but my babies). 

That's all for now,
Jo! 

April Fools

I'm not a fan of pranks- who is really?
So when it comes to my April Fools pranks they're really just an experiment in observation (which really isn't that different from most prank anyway). I usually change something just a little and see if it's noticed. This year, we went from this: 

And added a little left over glitter paint from our bow keeper: 

Close up: 

 I figured it was something I could easily live with, but the girls didn't notice until late in the day... yesterday. So I was a day late on April Fools but they girls thought they were fun and we're pretty excited about it. 

That's all for now,
Jo!

Another Shirt Dress

Since the first dress I made for KK didn't fit her I went ahead and tried again. (This time I used a more recently purchased- and therefore bigger- dress as my template.)
This time it was a plain white dress shirt so I did a little doodle stitching to make it not so boring.

I went with an under water theme- because what little girl doesn't love mermaids?
So this is a close up of the bottom:

(Since the colors aren't quite as clear as I remember when I took the picture: the octopus is pink, everything else looks well enough to tell.)

And the neck has a shell:

I finished it Tuesday night after she was asleep and I showed her Tuesday morning and she wanted to wear it that day! I love that she loves it! (However I finished it at 11 and need to put a backing to keep it from pulling out or itching her.)

That's all for now,
Jo!

Bookmarks

In today's post I followed an idea from Happy Hooligans.

My and the big Ks did this last week during Spring Break, but I was so busy the rest of the week and then working on home remodeling over the weekend that I'm just now getting around to posting (sorry!).

This was a really simple craft that I've had planned forever but just now getting around to. To be honest, my girls get excited when I let them use Sharpies, so they loved this. I also used two different types of recycled plastic bottles to see how each worked (honestly both worked fine for the craft until I went to add a ribbon to the top and the thicker I couldn't punch through).

So first we colored our recycled plastics. I used a Bath and Body Works soap bottle (I figured the rounded edges would be cute) and a milk jug.

 (When there's no school, KK will always prefer PJs.)

Then we used a pipette and dripped a few drops of rubbing alcohol on them to "marble-ize" them.

(KL got a little ambitious and squirted more than dripped but that's okay.)

We left them out overnight to make sure they dried good and then added a coat of mod podge to keep it from smearing. And finally we punched a hole and added a ribbon to the top (but for some reason I didn't take a picture after that). Here's the (almost) finished project: 

That's all for now, 

Jo!