Twirly skirt for my girl...

Yea....I did it!

Finally....

I have been wanting to try making my
little girl (although she would prefer to be called a big girl)
a cute little skirt.

So we took a trip to the fabric store and she picked out the fabric.
I might be making a matching mommy skirt. (while my girl is still okay with matching mom)

For the contrasting top and bottom band ...

I was able to use fabric I already had from when I made a crib skirt (a long time ago) for Beck.

After the skirt was made, I realized she needed a cute black tank to go with it.

So.....I looked in her clothes from winter and found a long sleeved black shirt

that was too tight under the arms.

SO...viola....made it into a tank.

I am loving this repurposing of clothes :)

I'm happy and so is Ava.

The skirt is a full skirt...which gives it its "twirl"....Ava loves to spin around and have the skirt "fly out".

I was inspired by this tutorial... she has lots of great ideas.

Ava also is proud of her new shoes...those crazy, light up twinkle toes by sketchers. (A gift for learning to finally tie her shoes, finishing dance, and kindergarten graduation)

Luckily, the cost of her shoes were offset by this outfit being less than $10.

Enjoy....happy monday to all!

Recycled shirt...for me...

Yes, I am still on my sewing kick and having lots of fun!

I just love the idea of refashioning, repurposing, reusing...whatever you want to call it.

I have been so eager to try so many of the tutorials that I have been reading lately...

and I knew when I saw this one that I had to try it.

Now mine looks slightly different. I changed the neckline a bit.

here goes.....

Not bad...if I must say so myself. And best of all my "new" shirt was free!

Next is a skirt for Ava.

Happy Friday!

gift for our babysitter...

Isn't a great babysitter priceless?

We are fortunate to have found a lovely girl who my kids adore.

She is homeschooled and graduating in the next couple of weeks...

then she is planning on attending Johnson and Wales culinary school.

(you know I love that!)

She sent me the most beautiful silver and yellow floral graduation announcement.

I commented to her how much I loved her announcements and she said that

yellow and silver are her favorite colors.

hmmmm.....gift idea.

I had just found this tutorial and thought I would give it a try.

This was made for less than $10 and I love it.

there is a slight silver sheen to the fabric

Ava now wants me to make her one too...

I am pretty sure our sitter will enjoy her purse...plan on tucking in some extra $ inside. (there is a small pocket on the inside....attached to the lining :)

enjoy and happy wednesday!

What I have been up to...

Been a long time since I blogged.

So many things going on with life...

I just never set aside any time to write.

now....I kept thinking "You know that would be a good idea to blog about"

I did this at various times.,,,but it never happened.

So why blog?

Well, I am not good at writing in a journal.

Honestly my handwriting stinks and my brain goes faster than my pen...

so therefore journaling with pen and paper just isn't fun for me.

Especially when I can't even read what I wrote.

So one reason to blog is so I can ..sorta.. journal about my day to day.

I can share life...

life with my children, my food, and my crafting...

and whatever else I feel like.

Now I know I am not the best writer ...but who cares... :)

I will actually end up printing my blog (have you seen that..very cool).

It is like you can print a very neat book, a journal, with pictures.

I think that would be a wonderful keepsake.

So, anyway...for now (no pressure on me)

I am going to start blogging more.

So what have I been up to? well a lot....

but something fun I have beed doing is that I have actually pulled out my sewing machine

and tried some sewing projects.

I came across some cool blogs (which is wonderful, but be warned you can spend

lots of time looking at the great sewing blogs out there...)

There are some great ones that demo the basics for people like me.

I had been saving hubby's old dress shirts for something...
and came across several blogs that give tutorials on how to refashion a men's dress shirt

into an adorable little girl dress.

So here it is...my first try...I am pleased.
Here is the shirt (I took the picture after I had already cut the arms off)

I had to adjust the arms a bit..but I like. It is a tad small for Ava but she still wanted to wear.

I made the ring above from the scraps using this tutorial.

You'll love her blog.

So here is Ava...striking a few poses...

the best pose of all...

Hope you enjoyed!

Happy Friday to all!