Back to School Shirts

The regular school routine has set in, and things seem to be moving along just fine. It has taken this mommy a little more adjusting than these two kiddos. 

They were both pumped and ready to go. Me, not so much.

I miss them.

The first day back broke my heart and I might have sobbed like a baby...in front of my baby...who is now a kindergartner.

My kindergartner might have shed a few tears because her mother lost it in front of her, but waited for her to leave. Such a strong little girl.

My first grader was a brave and happy little soldier. He's an old pro at this sort of thing now; in his mind's eye.

It does my heart good to see how happy they are with their teachers and their classmates. My favorite part of the day is when they get in the car at the end of the school day, smiles beaming, ready to tell me every detail of their day...competing to see who can tell the most.

Yes, I know these days are very short lived, and there will come a time when they won't say two words to me. 

I'm living in the moment and soaking it all in.

I love it.

We had a "morning of" photo shoot. This year wasn't nearly as fancy as last year's;o)

I will say that this impromptu photo shoot was a lot more fun and waaaay less stressful!!

 I made the kids' shirts to wear on their first day of school. I forgot to get good close up shots, so bear with me.

I found the fabrics from Hobby Lobby.

The shirt S.R. is wearing was created by using a pattern I had on hand. Super simple to put together, and took no time at all. I actually made it the night before school started because I am a last minute kind of gal;o)

 Here is a full view of the shirt along with a pair of shorts I found at a yard sale for $1...I really scored some awesome boutique deals that day.

This has to be one of my favorite shirts to date. I love the bright colors. Super fun!

 I asked E's permission before making his shirt. It needed to be something that didn't seem baby-ish. There is a fine line to walk when you mix applique and almost-7-year-old boys.

He approved, thankfully:o)

I made a pair of shorts to match, but when I finished them, I realized he might have been made fun of if he wore them. And we can't have anybody making fun of my sweet boy!

I haven't taken the time to make anymore clothes for them right now because we're about to head into Fall.

Hopefully I can get a few things together soon.

Summer Applique' Outfits

Summertime is in full swing around here, and boy are we busy! Between VBS, swim lessons, piano lessons(which start next week), play dates, and visiting family, there isn't a whole lot of crafting going on here lately.

I have been able to sneak in some cute little applique outfits for S.R. though:o)

She loves all of the new outfits that I have made her...thankfully!

For all of these shirts, I googled the images, and found the ones I felt would be easiest to stitch. I copied the images, pasted in Word, printed them out, and used them as the templates. 

Super quick and easy.

 Crab with coordinating shorts.

Anchor with coordinating skirt

 Butterfly with coordinating shorts

 Octopus

 Watermelon (which will have coordinating skirt)...I found this idea on Pinterest. This one is my fave!

I have received permission from E to make him some shirts, so I will share those as soon as I get them made. 

I hope you all are having a great start to your summer break!

Chevron Summer Dress

I am chomping at the bit to start working on some summer clothes for the kids. I have permission and promises from E that he will wear what I make for him...I just have to run my ideas by him first:o) Thankfully, it's a lot easier to please S.R. As long as it's girly and comfortable, she's all in!

I got really lucky the other day while in Hobby Lobby. They NEVER, and I mean NEVER have regular chevron in stock. They usually have a few duck cloth selections, but the apparel chevron is always sold out.

It was a sign...a sign that it was my chance to make a cute dress for S.R.

And here it is. A sweet little apron dress with a ruffled bodice. She loves it, and that makes me smile.

The back is gathered and the straps button on the inside of the dress. I had so much fun creating this dress, and I am ready to start working on some more!! Time for a fabric run!!

Easter Outfits-Boy's Vest and Bow Tie

I shared with you guys the other day S.R.'s Easter dress, and today I wanted to give you a closer look at E's vest and bow tie.

This has to be the easiest thing to sew for little boys, and it looks so cute! 

I purchased the vest pattern last year when the kids' were in my uncle's wedding.

I lost the instructions somewhere in my craft closet, but thankfully found the right pattern pieces to make the vest..and to answer your question, yes, my craft closet is a disaster, and no, I never put anything away where it belongs. I work in total chaos;o)

 The fabric was purchased from Hobby Lobby. I bought 1 yard, and after using my coupon, it came in at just under $5. Not bad, eh?

The bow tie has velcro on the ends to keep it closed around the neck. 

I really need to do a tutorial on how to make a bow tie. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to make these things!!

 Little man loved this outfit, and it always makes me proud when they get excited about what I make for them:o)

Have a great day, and make sure to smile big;o)

Easter Outfits-Easter Dress

We had a wonderful Easter. A time of catching up with family and friends, eating way too many delicious foods...courtesy of my mother, and remembering the resurrection of our Lord and Savior:o)

 I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend as well. 

 I gave a sneak peak on Facebook last Friday of the kids' Easter outfits. This week I will be sharing what I made for both of them.

Today's focus is on S.R.'s dress. 

Thankfully I had all the materials on hand, so this dress was completely free. Yay, for free!!

 This dress is extra special...

 All of the bead work, which was hand-sewn onto the dress(ugh!), came from my mother's wedding gown.

I took extra care in making sure that this dress will last, so that we can hopefully pass this on to my brother and sister's "someday" children:o)

The bead work went across the bodice...

and across the bottom of the skirt.

 Here's a quick look at the back. An extra long sash for the finishing touch.

 My children are carbon copies of the hubs and me...even down to how we take our pictures...it scares me how much my daughter is like me;o)

 Every once and a while we can get E to loosen up as well:o)

Come back for a closer look at E's Easter Vest and Bow Tie....

Participating here:

5 Year Old Birthday Outfit

My sweet S.R. is turning 5 in just a few days.

She asked for a special dress for her fairy tea party (a Queen Clarion dress to be exact).

The dress has been made, and she squealed when she saw it...the reaction every mother wants when she's worked so hard to make her little girl happy:o)

When I was searching for the fabric for the fairy dress, I came across some fairy knit fabric in purples and pinks. S.R.'s two favorite colors. I was slightly hesitant about purchasing it because my last experience with knits was quite disastrous. 

 I will have to say, this little skirt was much easier than I expected:o)

The hopscotch skirt is now my new favorite skirt to make...I think I'll be making one for myself now:o) I followed a super easy tutorial, and you can find it over at iCandy handmade.

I can't wait for the celebration:o) It's going to be so much fun!! I just hope that the snow they are calling for will hold off until after our guests return home safely:o) 

Have a great weekend, and I will see you back here next week with the details of the fairy tea party:o)

Our First Christmas Craft of the Season

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We surely did!!

We got back home on Friday, so there was plenty of time to get settled and relax a bit before starting the work/school week.

The holiday baking has begun, so I have to make sure I keep my running shoes broken in, or I'll be asking Santa for the next dress size up;o)

 Our first Christmas craft was peppermint Christmas trees.

 Thing 1 & 2 worked very hard at unwrapping many many peppermint discs...most made it on the trees...a few ended up in their bellies:o)

We started with tacky glue, but that was a bust..wet glue and sugary candy aren't a good mix..so we had to pull out the hot glue gun.

 I did all of the gluing, but this was a craft that required all hands on deck, so they didn't get bored with me doing the work. We had a lot of fun crafting, snacking, and listening to Christmas music.

Oh yeah, there was a wedding over Thanksgiving holiday:o)

Here are a few shots of the kids in their outfits I made.

 I am so blessed.

We went a head and started Elf on the Shelf...it's been hysterical!

We might have waited a little too late to start it..6 year olds are a little harder to convince of such things, but it's been absolutely too much fun trying:o)

I plan on taking pictures of our trees today. Hopefully I will get them posted tomorrow!!!

Boy's Vest and Bow Tie

A day late, I know, but here is E's vest and bow tie. 

I used a pattern for the vest, which was very confusing by the way. That's one of the reasons I like making my own patterns. I can piece the puzzle together quicker than I can read instructions and try to make sense of what they're trying to tell me:o)

Anyway, I am glad to have it done!

 The bow tie took about 35 minutes to make from start to finish. I think I will be making more of these. It's so stinkin' cute! The hubs even said he wanted some bow ties:o)

 Tomorrow is the big day. The kids are pumped, and the hubs and I are reeeally nervous:o) Not about the kids being the flower girl and ring bearer...they'll be fine...the hubs is playing the music and I am taking the wedding pics...no pressure..no pressure at all..ahhh!

I hope you all have wonderful Thanksgiving. Make sure to treasure every moment with your family, (no matter how annoying you might think they are, for those of you dreading it). You never know how long you'll have them!!!

Hugs to all!

Flower Girl Dress

Brrr! It's cold today! I can't believe how easily the cold wind can cut through you. I'm so very thankful for a warm home to shelter me from this frigid weather!

Speaking of being thankful, I have some wonderful news that my family and I are very thankful for. My uncle is getting married! He is engaged to a fabulous woman, who is absolutely perfect for him. We are all overjoyed for the both of them. They are getting married on Thanksgiving Day, and my little ones are part of the wedding party. 

If you are a follower of my Facebook page, you saw the inspiration dress I shared yesterday.

This is my version.

 For seven straight hours, I sewed away. 

Drowning in ruffles, constantly back and forth from my machine to the ironing board.

Blood, sweat, but thankfully no tears:o) (Stinkin' stick pins!)

I accidentally figured out how to make the ruffles quicker by loosening the thread tension...it could have been longer than 7 hours if I hadn't stumbled upon that!

 The neckline was a bear, but I finally got it to work. I pulled the stitches out three different times. 

My favorite is the back. This happened by accident as well. I ran out of the blue fabric, and had to use the mustard colored fabric for extra ruffles. A very happy accident indeed:o)

The petticoat is slightly underwhelming...I meant for the dress to be much "poofier." I think I'll hit Dillard's tomorrow and see if I can't find one to put under this one to give it just a bit more oomf:o)

So did I hit the nail on the head, or did I miss the mark completely?

I love it, and so does S.R....and hopefully the bride will too;o)

Now I must get to work on E's vest and bow tie...something that he is very excited about as well:o)

Updated Photo from Wedding:

Some New Sewing Projects for Boys

Sewing for a little girl is so easy. There are so many cute inspirations out there for girls, but there really isn't a whole lot to choose from for little boys. Sometimes I feel guilty when I make something for S.R. because for every 3-4 things I make for her, I make 1 for E. Sad, I know.

It's a fine line when sewing for boys because some things out there are border-line ridiculous. You have to take great care in not making your boy look like a girl. 

So anywhoodles, I went to Heart and Home Fabrics on Etsy, and  let E pick out some really cute fabric from the "Children at Play" line by Sara Jane. 

I made this cute little bean bag ottoman from it. If I ever get around to it, I will do a tutorial because S.R. wants one as well:)

 I also made him a cute little vest out of the same fabric. Yes, it coordinates with his ottoman, but how often is he going to be wearing that vest while sitting on the ottoman? ;o)

I'll have a tutorial on how to make a vest very soon because I have to make another one for him. Wanna know why?

Because my uncle is getting married, and E and S.R. will be the ring bearer and flower girl. They are super excited, and so am I. I just have to get busy on making their clothes for the wedding. I have found some pretty awesome inspiration on Etsy, so I can't wait to show you what I'll be working on.

Until next time....

Halloween Costumes

Since I have been lagging on posts, I never told you guys what my kids were for Halloween this year. 

E, once again, wanted to be something related to Star Wars. I'm not sure if he was a clone trooper or a storm trooper, (I get confused) but I most definitely knew that making that costume for him was next to impossible. I hate buying store bought costumes, but I know my limitations people:o)

Thankfully S.R. wanted to be something easy, Pocahontas. The Disney Pocahontas costumes aren't exactly modest, so I decided that we would go for a less flashy, more coverage kind of dress:o)

E didn't get to wear his Star Wars costume to school, but they do have book character day, and get to dress up for that. He chose to be Peter Pan. It doesn't get much easier than that! I purchased 2 t-shirts from Hobby Lobby. The lighter color in his size, and the darker color in an adult large. I turned the adult shirt into pants using a pajamas pant pattern, and used the sleeves of that same shirt to make the hat.

 His belt was made out of brown ribbon and Velcro, and his feather was made from felt. He loved it, and best of all if was cheap and super comfy for him.

 S.R. 's costume took some planning, but once I figured out how I wanted to construct it, it was smooth sailing from there. I used a peasant dress pattern found at Walmart in the 99 cent section. The fabric is some kind of faux leather/suede material, also purchased from Walmart.

After I pieced the dress together, I cut the skirt portion into a V, and then laid it flat on the ground and started cutting slits. 

 I bought a shirt and leggings and dyed them tan, and painted a red tattoo on the sleeve of the shirt. 

The whole reason S.R. wanted to be Pocahontas was because of her "blue diamond necklace." The girl likes her bling, so I definitely had to include the neckalce!

I found the medallion at Walmart in the discount jewelry making section, and looped a leather necklace I had on hand through it.

That's one pretty little Indian Princess:o)

 Here is a shot of little man in his "Whichever" Trooper costume:o) Such a sweet boy!

 And the with the helmet on for the full effect.

We didn't do the normal neighborhood trick-or-treating this year for two reasons...the first was because it was on a Wednesday night, and we had church..and the second was because we have been fighting a cold virus, and S.R. has been on a nebulizer for quite some time now. We needed to stay out of the cold air, so  we decided to trick or treat at a local retirement home, and visit with the ladies there. 

It was so fun, and I'm so glad we got to visit with those sweet women!