Like Mother Like Daughter

I am definitely my mother's daughter!

My mom loves to fix up her home. She loves to make it feel cozy, comfortable, happy, full of sunshine, and color. Growing up, our home was constantly re-decorated, re-organized, and re-arranged. Every few months at least one room, if not more, in the house would get a bit of a revamp. Whether it was moving furniture, re-arranging pictures on the wall, or actually painting the walls something was being done to our house.

I love that about my mom!
and I do have to say that I did inherit that need for change...or maybe it is just an ability to see how something would look better if I just painted it...added new pillows...or re-arranged it...

either way I have definitely been in that mood lately! My home desperately needs a little spring brought to it! I am tired of dark winter colors and am craving some bright, sunny, and springy (maybe it is a word?) colors!

Well that fabulous mother of mine was shopping the other day and spotted some beautiful springy fabric...and better yet...it was on sale. So being the fabulous mom she is...she picked it up and brought it to me when she visited a few weeks ago.

My kitchen is mostly red...but I have been feeling lately like it would benefit greatly from a little bit of yellow. So when my mom showed me the fabric she bought I was thrilled! It was absolutely PERFECT! One was yellow and white striped and the other was a yellow floral print.

So with my mom by my side...power tools in hand...and sewing machine ready to go...we gave my kitchen just a quick little face lift...


Here is the Before pic...


and here is the AFTER...



What a difference a little color makes right?!?! I am so thrilled!

I recovered the chairs, made a table runner, added some candles, and made a cover for the microwave stand.

My previous red chairs...


...are now bringing some spring into my kitchen!


a new table runner and some awesome candle holders that I found at the thrift store...all three for only $5!!! Oh YEAH!


Next on my to do list...find some beautiful fabric to make pillows that will take my dark green leather couches from feeling cozy winteryish (definitely NOT a word) to light and springy!


P.S. A special thank you to my mom- Thank you for always making our house a home! You are such an amazing mother and godly woman. You truly are one of my best friends and my hero! I love you mom!

Learning Our Colors

So I am sure it is pretty obvious by now that I LOVE making fabric books! I would almost say that I love making them more than Jack enjoys playing with them (well eating right now- he is teething after all!)

I love the idea of children playing and learning all at the same time. And I truly believe that it is never too early for a child to start learning!

So I decided to make him a book to help him learn his colors (hopefully he isn't color blind like his daddy). I also wanted him to be able to learn concepts like shades of colors, pattern, texture, and shapes with this book. Each page is devoted to a different color. I used different patterned cotton fabrics, felt, ribbon, silk, ruffles, fake leather, stuffed shapes, and some fuzzy fabric.

So here it is...Jack's COLORS book...

If you would like to make a fabric "Quiet" book here are a few blogs you should definitely check out....

How to Make a Quiet Book

Homemade By Jill

and Hippos and Dinosaurs has an adorable ABC quiet book...that I definitely see myself having to make in the near future!

And He Played With The Box!

Parents go through a lot of trouble to pick out just the perfect present for their little one. The perfect birthday present...the perfect Christmas present. You look and look and look until you find it...the PERFECT present...sure to thrill your precious child!

You wrap it up all fancy in special wrapping paper with a big bow, then excitedly present it to your child to open. You watch as your child squeals in delight, they tear apart that fancy wrapping paper and utterly destroy the bow you so carefully tied. They finally get to the toy...they jump up and down in delight...squealing even louder now. The exact reaction that you had been waiting for. They tear open the box the toy came in...play with the toy for about a minute..

then toss it aside and play with the box it came in instead...for hours!

it never seems to fail....babies and kids alike are so fascinated with the most simple of things.

And my son is no exception!



He spotted this box in his bedroom the other day and immediately was drawn to it...he played with it, on it, and in it for a good hour and a half!

I really do love that he wanted to play with it though...I think things like this are great to help develop a child's imagination.

I finally put him inside of it and began pushing him around the living room in it like it was a race car....and...

HE LOVED IT!

he was squealing and laughing like crazy...and when I would stop he would do this cute little grunt as if to say 'do it again mommy!'

So I started thinking...how cute it would be to actually make it into a race car for Jack. -now I am sure that at nine months Jack probably doesn't care if it actually looks like a car...just as long as I still push him around in it...but I just couldn't resist!


So I decided to make a slip cover to go over the box that would resemble a race car....



The front of the car has a bumper... and big head lights...

and the sides have tires and racing stripes :-)




Vroom Vroom! Go Jack!



I decided to add a pocket on the inside of the car to hold Jack's toys...after all you can't go driving with out your dinosaur buddy by your side!

I am still planning on adding a steering wheel to the inside so he can pretend to drive the car. I also may eventually take the bottom out (when he gets too big to sit in it) and add straps to go over his shoulders so he can stand up and pretend to race the car :-)

So go grab a box and let your little one's imagination go wild!

A New Shower Curtain

My new shower curtain! My poor bathroom has been desperately needing a little bit of color in it...it has only had a very sad plastic curtain on for the last eight months!

So after finding this fabulous blog , I looked back through her posts and found this tutorial on how to make a patchwork shower curtain. I immediately fell in love with her curtain! Her fabric choices are gorgeous!

So I began to dig though my stash to make one for my self. I love how she even gives you advice on how to choose different fabrics for the patchwork style.

I ended up picking mostly purples and yellows...figuring it would bring a little Spring to my bathroom :-) Then to break it up a little I added some blue and a tiny bit of black.




(You can't really tell in the pic...but the almost white looking fabric is really purple and white stripes)

The best thing about this curtain...

...it cost me $0!

Yup that's right!

All of the fabric I used was GIVEN to me!
(So a special thanks to my mom and Lisa Key for being so wonderful to give me the fabric that made my shower curtain possible!)

In her tutorial she even gives you the exact measurements for each block...which made it oh so easy to cut out and assemble!

So check out the tutorial and try it for yourself :-)

Pennant Banner for Jack's Room

I have been seeing pennant banners all over the internet lately. I would have never thought to make one to hang in my son's room but after seeing the one's made of fabric I knew I had to make one!

When I found out I was pregnant with Jack, my mom and I decided to make his bedding for his crib and his curtains. So we went to the store and picked out the fabric. We bought the recommended amount on the pattern for the bedding, and then a little extra for the curtains. Well...even after making the bedding and curtains, I had enough left over to make a Boppy cover, a lamp shade cover, and two changing pad covers. Even after all that I still had a bit of fabric left in each print!

I have been hanging on to the last remnants of that fabric trying to think of what to use it for (I hate to waste!)...turns out a pennant banner is just the thing to use up the remaining tidbits of fabric!

Like I said in an earlier post, our main computer can not hook up to the internet so I have to wait for hubby to bring his laptop home in order to do any surfing.

However...I just couldn't wait till he got home to look up a tutorial on line on how to make a pennant banner...

so I just decided to wing it...



...and I am so happy with the way it turned out!!!
Now I probably did it the hard way so I won't put my own tutorial up...but here are a few I did find on line later: here, here (I love this one), and here, that you can check out and try for yourself :-)
(...wishing I would have had these tutorials on hand when I was making mine!)

You can also use this same concept and make a banner out of scrapbook paper (see here, and here for a tutorial). This one made out of a recycled newspaper is also really cool!

Go on! You know you want to give it a try!!!!

Daddy Had To Have One Too...

When my hubby came home the other day for lunch (the day of his first softball game) I showed him Jack's new classic baseball t-shirt he quickly announced..."I want one!"

Now, I have never made a shirt for my hubby before. Usually because I am taking his shirts and making them into things for the little man. But also because my hubby is growing out of his clothes so it is hard to take something that is too small on him and make it bigger to fit him.

But, I knew he wanted one...and I really wanted to see if I could even make one. So I went digging through his side of the closet once again.

...and I came out with a white t-shirt that currently fits him, and an old baseball style t-shirt from college that no longer does.

I took out my handy dandy scissors and got to cutting up that old shirt to make a pattern...

Thirty minutes later....and...



TADA! Chad's new...fits him perfect...classic baseball t-shirt! With 3/4 length sleeves :-)

It was surprisingly easy, easy, easy to make!

Here is how ya do it...

Grab...

1 White t-shirt that currently fits your man
1 old...no longer fits...baseball style shirt to use as a pattern
(possibly one more t-shirt...color of your choosing...see directions below)

Next...

Cut up your pattern shirt at the seams. You will have a front, back, two sleeves and a neck.

You can make a pattern from the shirt or use the shirt as your pattern like I did.

...lay the front part of your pattern shirt on the front of your white t-shirt like so...



Take a pen and trace around the top edges of the pattern. Next cut out the top of the shirt. You are going to want to leave the sides in tact other wise you are going to be creating unnecessary steps and actually shrinking the shirt.

Repeat this step for the back of the shirt...



and cut out. You should now have a front, back, and left over sides/sleeves and neck.

For the sleeves...

The baseball t-shirt that I had cut up for my pattern did not fit my hubby any more...in his tummy. But the sleeves still fit perfectly! So I cut them down the seams and made a pattern from them so I can use it again in the future.

Then sewed back up the seams and attached those sleeves directly to the white t-shirt. No additional t-shirt required :-)

Now if the sleeves on your hubby's shirt doesn't fit him either then you are going to need one more shirt in whatever color you want, that you can cut out sleeves from. Just line up the bottom of your pattern with the bottom of the t-shirt so you don't have to hem the edge of the sleeves.

Next attach the sleeves and neck line the same was as in Jack's classic baseball t-shirt...

and you are DONE!

So much easier than I had expected it to be! Now it is time to make one for me!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game! ...A Tutorial

It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have been able to get on here! Sadly our home computer has a virus that won't allow us to access the internet. :-(

So for now I have to wait till hubby comes home and brings his laptop to get ANY computer time.

So in the mean time I have been...thrift store shopping with my mom who came in to town this past weekend, giving my kitchen chairs and table a little face lift, and working on a couple of projects.

The first of those projects that I will share with you today is how to make your own classic baseball t-shirt.

The need for such a shirt for my little man, arose when I found out that his daddy was going to be playing on the church softball team. I wanted him to look the part and show his support for his daddy :-)

I am sure there is a tutorial already out there some where on how to make this style shirt but I haven't stumbled across it yet. So if you haven't found one either yet, I would be happy to share with you how to make your own for your little guy...

Okay first off, what you will need...

2 T-shirts (1 white, and 1 any color of your choosing.)
1 "Pattern Shirt" (this is a shirt that has the baseball style sleeves that you don't mind cutting up)
Paper
Pen
Scissors
Sewing Maching...of course ;-)

First off for my 2 T-shirts I choose and old white one and red one from my hubby's closet...




Next grab your baseball style t-shirt that you are going to cut up...this shirt has the baseball style sleeves but wasn't quite the look I was going for...



Cut it apart at the seams...you should now have five pieces...
1. front 2. back 3-4. sleeves 5. neck line

Next...take your front and back body pieces. Fold each in half and lay on your paper. Time to make your pattern :-)



You are going to want to do this with the front, back, and sleeves. (you can also do this with the neck line)



*Seam Allowances* You can either do this step in your pattern or when cutting out your fabric...but definitely don't forget it.
(In case your new to sewing...when cutting out fabric you will want to leave a seam allowance... or about 5/8 - 1" extra space around your pattern to "allow for seams" this way your shirt doesn't end up just a little too snug)

Next...cut our your patterns. Take your white t-shirt and front and back pattern pieces. If you look closely you can see that I labeled my patterns 'cut on fold'. Make sure you do that other wise you are going to end up with only half a back and half a front.

I also line up my pattern with the bottom of the shirt so I don't have to hem the shirt. This little step saves me so much time! (I hate to hem!)



Repeat the step above with the sleeve patter and the red (or whatever color you choose) t-shirt.
I also leave the t-shirt doubled so I can cut 2 out at once, as well as lining the pattern up with the bottom of the shirt so I don't have to hem the sleeves.




You can do the neck line one of two ways...either take the neck line from your pattern shirt and cut out the same size from your t-shirt(like the pic below)...or like I finally decided to do...simply cut off the neck from the red shirt to use as the actual neck. I prefer using the neck from the red shirt...I just like it ended up looking more put together in the end.



Okay now that you have your five pieces to the shirt cut out it is time to sew it together.

Pin your white t-shirt front and back pieces *right sides* together (once again...in case you are new to sewing...the right side of fabric would be considered the outside of this t-shirt. The wrong side of fabric would be considered the inside of this t-shirt)



Next sew your sides together.


Once you have that done set the body of the shirt aside briefly and pin together the bottom edges of your sleeves like so...once again *right sides* together...and sew this part together (but only this one side!) Make sure to leave the other sides open.




Now this part is a little tricky to explain but not at all difficult to do...

you are going to grab your t-shirt body and turn it *inside* out. Next take one of your sleeves and turn in *right side* out.

Next place the sleeve inside the body of the t-shirt and line up sides of the t-shirt arm holes with the sides of the sleeve. The bottoms near the arm pit should line up as well as the tops.

Okay that was probably confusing the way I explained it...hopefully this pic helps make some sense of that...



Now I am pretty bad at lining up my sleeves just right so I always put a running stitch (a very loose stitch) in it first because I usually end up using my seam ripper about two or three times before I get it just right.

And this time was no exception....after sewing it on I realized that the shoulder part of the sleeves was too long...so I had to take it apart... and trim it excessively.

Once I did that I tried it again...


...and finally success! So don't feel bad if it doesn't turn out just right the first 2,3,4,5 or however many times it takes to get it right!

Once the sleeves look right you are going to sew over your running stitch with a tighter stitch to secure them.

Now...for the neck. At first I had cut out a strip of fabric and sewed it on top of the shirt alot like the way Dana does for her 90 min. Shirt...but decided it just didn't quite work for this type of shirt.

So I decided to cut the existing neck off of the red shirt that I had used for the sleeves. And measured and cut it to fit Jack's shirt.

To sew the neck onto the shirt you are going to want to turn your neck upside down and pin it to the t-shirt...*right sides* together.

Like so....


Maybe this pic will help it make more sense...



To attach the two sew closely to the top of the shirt like the picture above shows. Then remove your pins and flip the neck line back up.

If you are unsure by my directions on this step grab a t-shirt in your house and examine the way the neck is attached to the t-shirt...hopefully that will help :-) If not feel free to ask me and I will try my best to explain it a little better.

And that is it! You are done!



Put it on your little man and enjoy :-)



What is this mommy?



hhhhmmmm...I bet this would taste pretty good...



How to get it in my mouth though...



I think I've got it....



AAAAHHHH! SUCCESS! IT TASTE SO GOOD!

I also plan on adding his last name and a number to the back of his shirt....I think I am going to buy some nice iron-on letters to complete this look.

Hope you have fun trying your own classic style baseball t...happy sewing!



p.s. Feel free to ask me any questions and let me know if any of the directions were confusing or unclear :-)

Taking Time To Be Still...

Easter week this year was wonderful! Crazy busy...but wonderful!

It started out with Chad and I attending a Passover Seder that was held at our church on Thursday. I have never participated in a Seder before but I do have to say it was really great! I loved learning the history behind the passover meal and how Jesus used it to illustrate that He was fulfilling prophecy. It definitely gave a new meaning and understanding to the Lord's supper and it's significance.

On Saturday our church hosted an Easter in the Park. It was the largest easter egg hunt in our church's history. We had originally planned for 300-500 people. We ended up having somewhere around 750-900 people! What an amazing blessing!

Next Saturday night was spent finishing up our newly renovated church nursery (WOO-HOO!)...and I do have to say it looks spectacular.

Sunday morning we had a wonderful church service with our church family and then spent lunch with some wonderful friends.

As soon as lunch was done we came home and crashed...for about 4 hours! We were all very exhausted!

We ended our wonderful Easter weekend with a family trip to the park that evening.




My sweet little Jack...he loves the swings!






Daddy and Jack. There is nothing sweeter than a boy and his daddy :-)






Jack and Mommy feeding the ducks.

It was so peaceful getting to spend this time with my family. We walked around the pond and let Jack try to feed the ducks. It felt like the whole world just slowed down. It was so refreshing! And a wonderful time to reflect upon the week and what it was all really about together as a family.

I find that our life can become so full and crowded by our daily schedules that we forget to stop and take the time to truly reflect upon what we are running around and fussing over. Our week was so busy and hectic that I can honestly say, that I found it difficult to keep at the forefront of my mind, what all this was truly for. Sad isn't it...how easily we can become so engrossed in stuffing easter eggs and making easter outfits that we neglect the amazing and glorious reason we celebrate Easter. A Risen Savior.

Sometimes we just need to take the time to be still.










...Stay tuned later this week for a tutorial on the classic Baseball Shirt