Pom-pom Birthday Skirt

Remember the pom-pom skirt? Well, seeing some of you create them rekindled my love for it and I made a little outfit for a little girl turning one soon.

The fabric I had in my stash was the perfect complement! And some cute little leggings will be a perfect addition. This skirt is would be super cute for the little girl in your life right now. If you make one, add it to the flickr group! For a chance to be on In the Spotlight, please make sure it is sharable.

Make Way For Warm Weather Refashion Tutorial

Hey everyone :) I wanted to share this real quick. The idea has been in my head for a few weeks now and I finally got around to doing it! Now I get to share it with you too.

For this, you will need a long sleeve shirt. I used a knit one. I'm not sure how well it will work with a non-knit one, but you could make it work I'm sure. Go grab some scissors and pins and let's transform the wintry shirt into one ready for summer! PS... also remember to use the right needle for knits, etc. It will make your experience so much more pleasant!

1. Lay your shirt flat on the floor.

2. Take the scissors to it and cut out a shape like this. I did one side first, then folded it in half and copied the cut.

3. Cut two long pieces from the sleeves. Make sure they are a decent width (at least 1.5"). For length, I just cut a strip from the longest part of the sleeve. If you need it to be longer for the next step, you can always cut more strips and just sew them together.

4. Take one long piece and pin it around one side of the shirt, right sides facing. Sew in place with at least 1/4" seam allowance. I think I did a 1/2".

5. Fold the piece up and over and pin in place.

6. Sew it in place.

7. Fold the top front and back down some to create a casing. The amount is up to you. Pin in place and sew across bottom of fold.

8. Use long pieces from the sleeves to create a piece to tie through the casing. Or you could use pieces from another shirt, ribbon, rope, etc. Make it as long as you like.

I originally was going to have it long like this so I could do a bow and have the ends hanging, but I didn't like that. So I just ran the piece through the casings, sewed the ends together, and hid the sewed part inside the casing.

Have fun and make it yours!

In the Spotlight

Where has this week gone? I have spent most of it outside enjoying the wonderful weather!

We spent a wonderful week together and just focused on some things around here. It was fantastic! I don't have much to show for myself because what I have been working on is still "secret" at the moment..lol. So, here are some fabulous things others have created! Enjoy, be inspired, and if you make something using a Happy Together tutorial, add it to the Flickr group :)

Su is amazing at refashions! Seriously. Here is her Cardigan with a Twist.

Check out this clutch Kristen made based on the Placemat Clutch. Cute, huh?

And, a Happy Together reader, Catie sent me this link to a super cute crocheted sock monkey hat pattern she created! I might have to make my little one a hat :)

PS.. Does anyone know how to make pics bigger on blogger with a Mac? On my pc, I used to be able to click on the pic and enlarge it, but can't anymore and photobucket only lets me make them this big. Help anyone?

"Write It Out Journals"

Remember the post where I shared about Alida's (from I Make Stuff) Write it Out Journal project for military widows? I finally have three done and ready to send. They were all made using dinner napkins I had been saving for some project. They were perfect for this!

#1

My favorite part is the coral I used for the button.

#2

#3

Posterized Wood Plaque Tutorial

So, I had to do this with my new products from DecoArt.

It's totally inspired by a few other's tutorials put together along with my own, so there will be some links to follow because I want to give proper credit to where I learned some of these things from. This all began when I was thinking of a birthday present for my mom. Now I think I know what I'm doing for Christmas presents this year! See the end of the post for the other two I did.

Now, I by no means am an "artist." This is a sewer/crocheter having fun with new ideas and concepts. SO, if I, with no experience in this stuff whatsoever can do it, you probably can to :)

What you need (what I list is exactly what I used; some things can be substituted or even not used at all. Just have fun and make it your own :)

-Wood plaque

-DecoArt Modeling Paste (available online or find a store) or texture of choice

-Acrylic Paints (your choice. I think I used five colors).

-Wood Stain

-Gel Medium (I used Liquitex Gloss Medium and Varnish from Michael's, but after research it seems the one recommended by Ashley is one of the best. But, they all seem to be fickle sometimes....)

-Mod Podge (or a top clear sealant; you could use the gel medium too)

-Texture Tool with straight edge (or use a playing card; old credit card; etc).

-Picture to Posterize

-Printer

-You will need to get to a copy machine

1. Posterized Image:

I have to admit, Dana has me hooked on this now. It's not a new thing, but it is new to me. Let's begin by choosing the picture you want on your plaque. You need to posterize it either in Photoshop, Photoshop Elements (what I use), or find out the way without having any fancy program with Dana's helpful tutorial here.

I played around with a few pics and found what I liked best. You could go over it with a black marker and make it more "posterized", but I liked mine how the program did it, so I left it like that. Some are better than others. Having a light background in the picture made it work better from my playing around with it.

You need to then do a mirror image of it (I did this in Publisher), making sure it is the size you want it to be on the wood plaque. Then print it out and go get a copy of it at a local UPS store, post office, etc.... Wherever there is one. You need to do this because the copy machine ink comes off the best.

2. Wood Plaque:

Now to prepare the plaque. Grab your texture tool and modeling paste (or texture of choice) and have at it. On the large one I added a little more thickness to the edges to have it pop a bit.

LET IT DRY COMPLETELY.

Now it's time to paint. This is how I started with the paint job.

Then I took my straight edge texture tool and swirled it around to my liking. I used a paint brush to catch the extra paint to cover the edges of my plaque.

LET IT DRY COMPLETELY.

If you desire, you can add some wood stain to the edges to have a more "old" feel to it. I did this lightly. Just swab some on a rag and swipe it on the edges.

Use your finger to blend it some if it looks unnatural.

3. Putting them together

Now, this part can be tricky and it might now come out perfect. Just warning you. If it's your first time, maybe make two copies so you can practice with one first. You need to apply your photocopied photo with your medium gel as Ashley shares here.

Then cover your plaque with mod podge or even use the medium gel for the finished look.

My notes:

-On my first one (the pink one), I didn't use a lot of gel. I forgot, so some parts of the picture didn't make it.

-I also just used my finger to rub over the paper once on the wood covered in gel. I think maybe even using a popsicle stick would have been better and might have allowed me not to lose as much of the picture as I did.

-I ended up using the soft side of a sponge to get the paper off too. My fingers were not doing the trick. Some people use rags, etc. Just be easy. Rub off just enough. I recommend going slow so you don't over rub and take the ink off of it too.

-With the texture, you might lose some of that too because it isn't a simple flat surface. I ended up liking the end result though, even with a few bare spots here and there. It gave it a worn look. If you use only one color like I did in the green one below, you can touch up the spots after as well (which I did for that one).

- Remember, sometimes you can do everything right and this still might not turn out "perfect." Fortunately, I was extremely pleased with each piece I did, but after doing some research, I found you might not always be.

Just have fun and go with it! Each piece will be different and unique :)

Add your finished product to the flickr pool

This one I made for my mom's birthday present. I used one color for the base, then did a crackle finish texture with a stencil.

Done in one color with some brown paint on the edges.

Hearts Rock

I seem to be in a "decor" mood lately, but I have been doing some sewing here and there. This is not one of those sewing projects though. It's another art. I was very inspired by this stone heart wall art I found on One Pretty Thing and decided to make my own.

I found the rocks in one trip to the beach. I then found a unfinished wood 12x12 display box at Michael's (normally $7.99, but use your coupon!). I painted it white (2 coats of spray paint), but then decided I wanted to distress it some. Do not use spray paint if you want to distress. It was not the easiest, but I did some. I took a pizza cutter to it and sanded some spots to show the wood.

For the inside, I glued in a piece of scrapbook paper and then glued on the hearts. Super simple.

Here is a fab tutorial on distressing a small thing that I found and would use if I was to do this again.

CSN Sneak Peak Review

I was recently introduced to CSN, which is made up of over 200 stores. It's amazing. They have it all; kids bedding, kitchen wares, shoes, and more. What a great way to do online shopping! You can get a lot of it done in one place, which saves a lot of time. CSN is sponsoring a product review here on Happy Together in a little bit. Here is a sneak peak of the product my daughter and I get to test out:

Check back soon for a complete review.

Creepy Crawlies

The second part of my cousin's sons fourth birthday is all about bugs! When I asked her what he was into she said he's all boy (bugs, cars, you get it). So, the little one and I had fun with a potato stamp of an ant on this shirt. I call it "the ants are marching" shirt.

Then, I wanted to crochet something and found this cool spider crochet pattern on Ravelry.

Boys Birthday Sports Shirt

There are some little ones having birthdays soon, so I've been doing some present making. One little boy in our family is turning 4 and I wanted to make some kind of shirt with the number 4. I thought about doing a fabric one, but I just didn't think it would look right on this shirt. Then I thought about making it look like a sports jersey or something. Here is what I came up with:

I just did a freezer paper stencil to put the number 4 on front and back, along with his last name.

I like how it came out. So happy birthday to the four year old!

Fun with DecoArt: Textured Wall Art Tutorial

I have been trying to find my inner artist lately and had this painting thing in mind to try out. A little while ago I was contacted by a sweet lady from DecoArt who introduced me to some of their new products and asked if I would like to try any out. Guess what? Their new line of things was exactly what I needed to make my painting come to life!!!! I got really excited and of course said I would love to try some stuff out. I shared with her my vision and she sent me some wonderful products. I even have a few more things I'm going to make and share with their stuff, but here is the first thing, a graduated color textured wall art piece.

Now, I am not a painter, drawer, etc. like some amazing people (ie Ashley) are, but I do like to dabble with that stuff here and there. I find it fun and relaxing. This is really simple to do and would be wonderful to make on a "date night" with one you love, a friend, or your child (one that's old enough ;).
You can buy their products online here, but I've seen all of these in places like Michael's too. You can check out a whole bunch of other fun tutorials for their products here as well!

What you need:

-Canvas or Wood piece to do the art on
-Paint in whatever colors you choose. I used these by DecoArt's line Americana

-DecoArt Texture Thick and or Modeling Paste (I used a bit of each)

-Texture Tools (you can buy the plastic pieces or some random things from around the house)

1. Take your canvas, wood, etc. and smear on the texture pastes as you like. I used the groovy ends of my texture tools and just went crazy with it all to have a messy look.

2. Let it dry completely. This might take a bit.


3. Time to paint! I squirted some paint on like this to begin with:

Then I used the flat end of a texture tool to smear it all around. I of course kept adding paint until I was satisfied. I used the tool to smear paint on the sides of the canvas as well. Note: I did try paint brushes, but it didn't give it enough of the texture look because it filled inbetween the bottom texture layer making flatter.

4. Let it dry. All done :)

And this is one art piece that anyone can touch and feel the texture!

Ribbon Rings Tutorial

The site the tutorial was originally used on is now shut down, so here it is. I learned my lesson. Always keep a copy of tutorials somewhere else! I usually do, but I didn't for this one for some reason. These are simple rings and easy to whip up. Here is what you will need:

-Ribbon
-Scissors
-Needle and coordinating thread
-Hot Glue Gun
-Small piece of felt
-Elastic (like a broken hair elastic)
-Beads, etc. for the center
-Candle for heat sealing



1. To begin, cut a piece of ribbon. I made mine 12" long. The green one shown was two layers, so I made the bottom layer piece longer and the top layer a few inches shorter.


2. Run the ends of the ribbon over a candle flame to melt them. This creates a seal and it will not fray.


3. Thread your needle with thread that coordinates with the ribbon you are using. Knot the end.


4. Start by securing the thread on one of the short ends of the ribbon.


5. Now do a baste stitch down the short side.....


6. Then turn at the end and continue the baste stitch down the long side.


7. Once at the end, pull the thread tight to gather it up. It creates a ruffle look.


8. Then sew the two short ends together once it is gathered how you like it.

9. Sew on any beads, buttons, etc. to the top middle at this point as well.


10. Using a dime and a nickel, I cut out small circles of felt for each ring. This will go underneath.


11. Cut thin pieces of elastic hairband to 2.25" long.


12. Take your hot glue gun and glue each end of the elastic to the center bottom of the ribbon.


13. Then hot glue the piece of circle felt on top of the elastic ends. This covers the ends and also the threads from sewing on the middle pieces.

*Tip #1: You can also place two pieces right on top of each other for a double one layer.

*Tip #2: You can also make two ribbon rounds and glue the smaller one on top of the bigger one.