Read More http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/tutorials/how-to-use-a-cute-font-for-your-blogger-post-titles.html#ixzz1IJCcBak7

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Trip to Disney!

Help my family win a trip to Disneyland!
Vote for our little Yoda (Pic 11)
@
http://www.todays1065.com/pages/disneyhalloween/.
If you feel so inclined, you can vote once per day.
Oh, and just incase you were wondering...
My mom made her entire costume
(excluding the light saber...I believe Walmart made that).

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Go, Diego, Go...(The story of a couch's new life)

After seeing a post on All Things Thrifty a while back, I knew I needed to find an awesome kids' couch.
And we did just that this past week.
We picked up this couch at our local thrift store, for $2.
And as much as I love Diego, he needed to go. He wasn't looking or smelling too good.
So, with my husband on board, we ripped this bad boy to pieces.
My husband did all of the dirty work...and trust me, it was pretty dirty.
He ripped out the staples, and touched all of the smelly fabric.
Then I cut out new pieces of fabric, using the old pieces as patterns, re-stapled and re-sewed...
PS: Be prepared...it's our first reupholstered project so it's not perfect.

VOILA!
We LOVE them...the couch and the chubby baby!
And one more before and after...



Friday, May 20, 2011

Car Seat Makeover!

We're going on a trip in a little bit, but I wasn't very excited about taking our Chicco KeyFit 30 car seat. Basically, because I didn't want the airlines to break it, ruin it, or lose it.
So, imagine my excitement when I found out my neighbor was going to donate their old car seat.
The good news: it's not expired.
The great news: it was FREE!
Here's what it looked like before I got to it.
It's fully functional, I just took the canopy off before taking any pictures.
So, I washed all the belts, wiped down all of the plastic parts.


I proceeded by unstitching it, and taking it all apart.
Then I cut out new pieces, using the old pieces as my pattern, and sewed it all back together again. (Yes, my carpet is green...)


Here's what it looks like now.
It's definitely not flawless, but I do love it!
I hope my little one loves it too.




Hope you love it too!
Have a great day!
Jenn

Join  us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap<br /> up           party!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Squinkie Winkie!!

So, I missed Easter and Mother's Day with you!
But I didn't miss it with these two...
And for that I'm very grateful!

We spent lots of time playing...
Especially with these Squinkies (which my oldest received in her Easter basket).

Here's the wedding she put on for Ariel and Prince Eric.

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter and Mother's Day!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Roxy Shirt to Dress

Here's to hoping we'll enjoy some SPRING weather soon...
For this dress, I used a girl's large Roxy shirt that I bought for $5.
I LOVE SIMPLE...and that's what this project was.
I took in the shoulders, sewed bias tape around the neckline, and brought in the back with a piece of bias tape.
Then I tied a ribbon around the waist and voila!!
So simple, while still being so cute.







What do you think?
Should we be allowed some Spring weather?
I hope so...

Jenn







Thursday, April 14, 2011

Rolled Fabric Rosettes

This week, using some of my fabric stash, I made pretty little rosettes.

Then, I went about attaching them to different things including:





On a side note, my daughter LOVES her $3 shoes from Walmart.
She refers to them as her "ballerina" shoes!
Of course, they're scuffed and dirty now (after less than a week of wear), but I don't mind too much because they were only $3.
Although, I do wish I would've bought a couple extra pairs!
So, moral of the story is...
If you have little ones who like to put a lot of wear and tear on their shoes, always check out Walmart's shoe clearance section. You never know what kind of great deals you might find there (I've even seen shoes on clearance for $1). And if they're somewhat plain, don't worry because you can always add some spice to them with a little creativity and hot glue!!
The end.

Jenn

Monday, April 11, 2011

Biggest Loser Contestant...

I have an obsession for the Biggest Loser show.
We watch it each week, consistently.
I also have a secret dream of one day becoming a contestant on the show,
so I can train with Bob and Jillian...
Okay, it's not really a "secret" dream anymore because I've told my husband, and he thinks it's hilarious, so he's told others.
Anyway, I'm not really in the position to become a contestant on the show because I'd have to gain 130+ pounds to qualify.
Seeing how that's not going to be possible for this next season, I figure I'd better start my own exercise regimen to drop those evil pregnancy pounds.
However, with TWO crazy little ones, I can't use my same single jogging stroller (it would just be WAY too difficult...).
So I'm saving up all of my shiny little pennies to buy me one of these babies.
Any thoughts (positive or negative) regarding the 2011 BOB Revolution SE Duallie Stroller?
I probably have another few weeks before I can save enough money to purchase one.
So, there's a chance you can talk me out of it (or more into it) by then.

Jenn

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Chenille Washcloths

Go ahead and make some of these absorbant and soft washcloths for your baby, a friend's baby, or even yourself!
I love using them for my daughter.
And they're possibly one of the easiest things you'll ever make.
The burp cloths I made earlier are made the same way, just in a different size.
See instructions below.






Include a fun bath toy and maybe a hooded towel (that you also made), to create a cute and unique "bath" themed baby shower gift.

Jenn

Sunday, April 3, 2011

We Have a Winner!

Thanks to all of you who voted for my little one's picture.
Although we didn't win, there will still be a winner here!
The winner was chosen randomly through random.org.
And since I still haven't figured out how to paste the image so you're gonna have to trust me...sorry!
Anyway, moving on...

The winner is...

#15
brandon and jakell said...

husband voted too :)
Brandon M.

thanks
jakellcth@msn. com

Congrats Brandon and Jakell!

Jenn

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dressing up those plain onesies...

I had some plain white onesies that were supposed to be returned to Ross.
Instead, I decided they needed to be dressed up.
So, I used the bows that never turned into hair accessories, and some yo-yos to make these onesies more fun!




What do you think??

Jenn

Join  us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap  up           party!

Photobucket

craft

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Crochet Trim Baby Blankets

*Before we get started, I just wanted to remind you about the giveaway.
Enter on this post, by 3/31.


My oldest was given a crochet trim flannel blanket when she was born.
She's 3 now, and she's still using it (we both absolutely LOVE it)!
When I went through my crazed stage of making all kinds of baby things, I really wanted to make these.
After many hours on Google, I still couldn't figure out how to do these.
I finally figured out that the process to make the holes which you crochet through is called "hemstitching".
And...you either have to have a special hemstitching machine to make those holes, or buy the ready made kits from people who have the machine.
Apparently, Singer used to make these machines back in the day, but no longer make them (or something like that...I don't really know the history so don't call me out on it).
Since the hemstitching machines are expensive, and I don't own one, here's my way of making these little lovelies (aka crochet trim blankets).

Materials Needed:
-Flannel (I use 1 yard, but how much you use depends on the size of blanket that you want. Also, I haven't tried other fabrics so I don't know how this technique works for other fabrics.)
-Crochet Thread (I believe the size I use is size 3, it's bigger than size 10.)
-Crochet Needle (Size 5 or Size 6. I've used both and they work fine.)
-Grab and Stab tool (I got this tool from Roberts. According to the company that made this particular one, that's what this tool's name is, but I'm sure it's probably called something else. You just need something pointy, and thicker than a needle, to make the holes.)
-Ruler (Not pictured here.)
-Basic Sewing Machine (Also not pictured.)

First things first, hem the edges of your blanket.
Fold it in 1/4 inch, then fold again 1/4 inch to make a nice clean hem.
Then top stitch around the edges.

After you have nicely hemmed edges, take your ruler and line it up to the inner edge of your hemmed blanket (see picture).
Next, take your pointy tool and make a hole every 1/2 inch.
With flannel (I don't know about other materials), the holes close up so try to make them decently sized.
Also, because the holes close up after poking them, I like to only make a ruler's length of holes at a time (is this making any sense??).
After I make a ruler's length of holes, I crochet that length before making more holes.

When you begin crocheting, don't start on the corner (it makes it harder to finish).
Starting part way down an edge, allows for the start and finish to come together better.
To start, tie a knot on your thread, and crochet a single stitch through your starting hole.

To make the crochet pattern shown below, I crocheted a single stitch through the hole, then two double stitches through the same hole.
So in one hole, you'll have single stitch, double stitch, double stitch.
To round the corners, you can do a single stitch, double stitch, double stitch in your corner hole, then do a couple chain stitches before doing the single stitch for the next hole.
Hope you're understanding this!!

Then, after you've stitched around your entire blanket (and all the holes are filled with stitches) crochet a single stitch through the starting hole (so your starting hole will have a single stitch, double stitch, double stitch, and single stitch), cut your thread, tie a knot in the thread, and pull the thread through a couple of the next holes' stitches to make everything neat.
Don't worry about your holes being a little stretched out or big, they shrink up and close in the wash.
So, now your blanket should look like this one that my mom made.

Isn't it lovely??

Also, if you Google crochet pattens, you can find other patterns to crochet around the edges of your blanket.
So go ahead...have fun!!
Oh, and let me know if you have any questions because I'm betting this got a little confusing.

Jenn

Friday, March 18, 2011

Wishing for Summer Dress

Last week, Walmart had a bunch of shirts on clearance for $1!
So I grabbed a few XL ones.
Then I went to their craft section and picked up elastic for $0.97.


So, for about $1.25, and following this tutorial, we have this...




As you can see, she loves it and we can't wait for summer!