Fabric Flower Head Band

My little sister Andrea is definitely a very fashionable girl!

No matter what the occasion she always looks adorable and trendy. She can always pull off the cutest outfits, hats, shoes, and scarves that I wish I could!

So I knew I needed to make her something fun and very "Andrea".

A little while back I found this adorable black dress at the thrift store. It had these beautiful black flowers on the top and such a cute skirt with big pockets. Problem- it was just a bit too short and just a tad too tight...

...but it was only $2 so I decided to buy it any way! I figured I could do something with it! (more coming later as to what I did with the rest of the dress).

Since Andrea is always wearing cute hats and things in her hair I knew a "head band" of sorts was just the way to go.

All I did to make this head band was...

cut two of the flowers off of the black dress I purchased...

Then cut three 1" strip of black t-shirt- all the same length (measure them around your head to make sure you cut them long enough)...

Braid the three strips and sew the two ends together...

Finally sew the two flowers directly on to the braided band....

ALL DONE!

Super easy and super quick!

Now if you don't just have some super cute fabric flowers on hand, check out Ruffles and Stuff's post here...she makes this adorable bouquet tank and gives you a step by step tutorial on how to make the flowers, plus gives you links to sites that show you how to make the other flowers. Any of them would look beautiful on a head band!

Have fun making your own fabulous head bands!

T-Shirt Shrug

While my little sisters were in town this past week I also decided to go through my closet and pass down all the clothes that were either too small for me, or that I had not worn in the past year.

While digging through the pile of clothes I found a bunch of t-shirts. They were all too small on me now, but I was looking for old t-shirts to cut the bottom off of after I saw this tutorial on I Am Momma Hear Me Roar. I love the idea of the modesty of an extra layer, but with out the bulkiness. So I went ahead and took a bunch of t-shirts I had and cut the bottoms off to make my self a few.

My sister Erica had mentioned a little earlier that she would love for me to make her a shrug.
So it worked out perfectly that one of the t-shirts I had cut the bottom off of was a pink t-shirt with a deep scoop neck - perfect shape for a shrug.

I also found a gray tank that had buttons down the front of it (I prefer to use pieces that already have buttons and button holes sewed on. I abhor sewing button holes!).

To make the shrug I first cut a straight line up the middle of the pink t-shirt.

Next, I cut off the bottom of the gray tank, folded it in half, and sewed it to the bottom of the pink t-shirt.

Then I cut off the section of the gray tank that had the buttons and holes on it and sewed it to the edges of the front of the pink shirt.

To finish it off I added a little of the gray tank to the sleeves of the pink shirt for a little extra embellishment.

Thankfully my little sis Erica is a skinny minnie and the shrug fit her perfectly!

T-Shirt Braclets

Since I had made Erica a present (Forever 21 Dress), and Emma a present (the bandanna tunic), I decided that I had better not leave my other two sisters out.

So I started looking around at some different blogs for ideas for the girls.

Now Erica and Miranda have been very into the whole rope/friendship/fabric bracelet thing. So after I saw this idea from Lil Blue Boo for recycled t-shirt bracelets I knew I had found the perfect present for Miranda.

She shows you how to make a braided version on her blog and then gives you a site (V&Co) where you can buy a tutorial on how to make the wrapped ones.

I decided that I liked the look of the wrapped ones the best but would just try to figure it out on my own.

and here is what I came up with...



I used four different colors of t-shirt scraps that I had on hand to make these.

It took a little bit of thinking as to how to make them keep their round shape and not just fall apart. So I played around with them for a while and finally got an idea.

I love bangle bracelets! As a result I have one entire drawer of my jewelery box that is devoted to them. Some are very nice, and others are just cheap thin bangles (and I have a ton of the cheap thin ones).

So I decided to take a few of the thin bangles I had to use as a base.

Next I cut two thin strips of t-shirt fabric...preferably two different colors.

Hold both strip of fabric in one hand, and with the other wrap them around the bangle. When you have wrapped the entire bangle simply tie them off....and viola! You are done!

Don't worry about making it perfectly spaced or anything...I think it looks better if it is not perfect. Do make sure that you wrap them tight though so they don't become loose. You may even consider putting a small dab of hot glue under the knot to make sure they don't come undone.



I wasn't surprised to find that Miranda LOVED them!

Bandanna Tunic

I had a wonderful Mother's day this year! It was so nice to not only spend it with my husband and son, but to get to spend it with my four sisters!

My parent's left on friday to go on a cruise to Jamaica for their 25th wedding anniversary. So friday morning they brought the girls and dropped them off with me for a few days.

I have had a bunch of fun girl craft ideas floating around in my head the past few weeks, so I decided to take this opportunity to make a few things for the girls.

One of the first things I made was this bandanna tunic for my littlest sis!

Doesn't she look cute in it?!

Poor thing had to close her eyes...the sun was making them water like crazy!

And this is her striking a model pose....hehehe! I love it!

All I used to make this shirt was two bandannas and a piece of soft rope.

I simply folded the top point down and sewed a straight line across about two inches down to create a hole for the rope to pass through.

Next I took the rope and cut it in half so I would have two pieces.

Then slid one piece through the "tube" in the top of the bandanna,

made sure it was even on both sides,

gathered it slightly,

then sewed the sides of the rope in place so it wouldn't slide out.

Then I did the same thing to the other bandanna.

next I lined up the two bandannas right sides together and sewed down the sides to attach the two (you might want to have your little one try it on first to make sure it won't be too small or too large).

Since bandanna edges are already finished you don't have to hem anything :-)

The last thing I did before having lil sis try it on was to put a knot in the ends of the rope so it wouldn't fray.

Then I had Emma try it on and tied the rope at the top to finish it off.

There are a few tutorials on other types of shirts and clothing you can make out of bandannas
here, here, here, and here. Check them out and give them a try!