Dress Up Monday: A Piece of Cake

I've got another LBB pattern dress, but this one is a bit different.

Why? It's my first thing I have ever serged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's right!!!!!!! I finally was able to sit down, focus, read the manual a bazillion times, and use my serger. I'll be honest. It scared me. But I conquered it. I am a Conqueror!!!! I still have to practice the tension a lot, but I know practice makes perfect.

My daughter wore this dress for a baking lesson with one of her aunts.

They mixed everything up and then her aunt had another cake already cooked (just like they do on cooking shows) so they wouldn't have to wait for it to cook.

The little one got to help decorate and enjoyed a yummy cake!

(Oreos for the scales; fruit roll ups for the tail and fins)

And I must say. After my trip, I will have to go on a sugar detox!

A Crabby Party

One of the main reasons for coming up to VA recently was for my dad's birthday party. It's a big one this year and he wanted to have himself a party. My mom decided on a crab theme for a few reasons. We have always lived in a seafood loving area (and love it ourselves) and my dad found this sign when he retired that says, "Don't bother me I'm crabby" and put it on his office door (for grins and giggle ;). I tried something new by making this cake.

I've only made sheet cakes up until this point, so I'm so glad it turned out okay! And it tasted yummy too.



It's starting to get me thinking about what I'm going to do for my daughter's 3rd birthday, although that is still a ways away. It's never too early to start planning though, right?

I also made my dad "The Birthday Crab" t-shirt. I did a freezer paper stencil and it didn't work too well this time, but it worked out. So, Happy Birthday Dad! We had a lot of fun and hope you did too :)

What Did (or Would) You Want to Know.....

I want to make a sewing terms sheet to send with my patterns and to have available online. I remember when I first started sewing, I had to search so many terms to figure out what they meant! I want to make it easy and try to put the basic terms in one place. This would not only be good for beginner sewers, but others for whom English is not their first language. The other week one of my friends called me asking me what certain terms were on this sewing pattern because she was used to hearing the terms in her first language. Here is what I thought of so far that I had to look up or am asked about frequently via email:

Gather

Baste

Raw Edge

Right side of fabric

Wrong side of fabric

Shirr(ing)

Casing

Zig-zag Stitch

V-Stitch

Finish seam

Top stitch

Any other sewing terms you can think of?

PS....H.T. Sponsor Sweetie Pie Bakery is looking for pattern testers!

Getting My Tan On (Literally)

Hi everyone :) This summer we have some vacations and other things planned and a big change we are preparing for this fall (will fill you in later), so my summer postings might be a bit sporadic at times. In the meantime of this week with no "crafting", I wanted to share something fabulous I discovered:

{Jergens Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer & Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips}

I figured out how I can look tan from a bottle (or can?). I have tried other rub on lotions and all, but this foam stuff is the absolute best! Everyone keeps telling me I have my Florida tan, but I know it's not from being out in the sun! You see, we are a very fair skinned family and the sun is strong in FL. We lather on sunscreen like crazy, not really seeing much tan going on. (I also like the shade a lot more when it's 100+ degrees outside.) I use the foam almost daily on my body and I use Physicians Forumla bronzer on my face. I have very sensitive skin, especially on my face, and this is one thing that doesn't seem to effect it that much. I also love the mixture of shades it has. It makes the tan look very natural. Now, I know the bottle says 25 uses, but I used my first bottle of this stuff for 2 months (maybe that's because I only put it on places that would show if I had my bathing suit on) and I have never had a problem with streaking. But, you have to make sure you rub it on evenly and use just enough. Nevertheless, I figured I would share my success and love with these products.

Dress Up Monday: Pandas and A Deal

My mom knows I love to make t-shirt dresses for my daughter, so she sent these cute ones with pandas on them for that purpose.

My daughter just adores pandas. We are even taking her to a zoo this summer that has real pandas! She's super excited about that.

Now, about this good deal. We were at Walmart and I saw these adorable wanna-be-Keds. They were only $3 each pair! They had a few more colors too (pink, navy, black).

I got the white and green. They had a ton of them too. I'm thinking about getting more white ones do decorate up. Hmmmmm.......we'll see ;) We do love us some cute shoes around here!

Dresses made using the LBB Sienna Dress Pattern.

Cork Silhouette Necklace Tutorial

Well, I had some leftovers from making the bulletin board.

One of things I did with them are these:

I just adore them. I even wore the bicycle one out tonight on my date with my hubby.

They are really simple to make and making these made me think of many other small things I could do similar with my scraps (Christmas ornaments, magnetic frames, etc.).





Let me share with you the creation process of these little things.

You will need:
-Cork board
-Scissors
-Writing utensil to trace with
-Jump ring
-Necklace to put it on
-Mod Podge
-Optional: Paint, Scrapbook papers, etc.
-Clip art/pictures to use to trace

1. Find some clip art on your computer or search the web for some pictures/silhouettes you like. (You could even do a child's profile silhouette! How cute would that be?). I search the web by going to yahoo.com and searching under their images section. It's easier to sift through for me.

2. Print out the pictures, cut them out, then trace them on the cork board. I do this on the backside so no markings will be on the front (because I used a pen and don't want it to show).

3. Cut out the silhouette from the cork board and do what you want with it.

Paint it. Mod Podge paper to it.

Add glitter.
Draw on it.

4. After you decorate it or don't decorate it, I suggest covering it with a layer of Mod Podge (front and back). This will help the cork board be more durable.

5. Take something sharp, like the end of manicure scissors/toothpick/etc., and poke a small hole where you want the jump ring to go. Then stick it on.

6. Slip it on your necklace and there you go :)

The cat one was for my daughter. She loves it.

The Shaped Bulletin Board Tutorial

This is the one "unique" gift I was able to make this year for Father's Day. I was inspired by my husband and the updating of our home office.

He has his side of the room and it's so bare compared to mine. I wanted to make him something that was 1) not girly and 2) reflected him.

To make this, I found this roll of cork board at JoAnn's. It was either $3.99 or $4.99. Use your coupon and get it super cheap!

Please note, it is very thin. I'm thinking of adding another layer for more support. I could have bought a regular bulletin board to do this....maybe I'll redo it? Anyways, it's still cute, no matter what. I could even be painted and made into wall art!

I then went web searching and found a silhouette that I liked. I rasterized it to make it print out on multiple sheets of paper (a program I found via Ashley). This made it big enough for me. I think you can do this somehow with regular computer programs, but I didn't have time to look into it. So, I printed the pieces out, cut it out, and taped the pieces together.

Then I grabbed a sharpie and placed it wrong side up on the back of the cork board. I used the sharpie to trace it.

There you go folks. Come back Saturday to see something you can do with the scraps.

If you make a personalized bulletin board/wall art, please share your pictures in the flickr group.

It's Almost Father's Day.....

I haven't made anything new this year (well, except something I will be sharing tomorrow) for Father's Day, but remember these pictures I did last year? (original inspiration for pictures is actually from one of my sponsors, The Rusted Chain, found here)

Here is one that Happy Together reader Marie from Chasing Rays did:

It's really quick and easy to do. I purchased some wooden letters from the craft store and covered them in bright coordinating paper. Then I took the little one outside and took a bazillion pictures. I ended up having some good ones and turned them into black and white with only the color letters showing. Here is how to do that in Photoshop Elements if you have it:

1. Open desired photo
2. Choose quick selection tool
3. Use the tool and paint brush strokes inside of what you want to be color (in this case the letter).
4. Go to the Select menu and choose inverse , so you have everything selected but the letter.
5. Go to the Enhance menu, then to Adjust Color, and choose Remove Color.

That should do it.

Dress Up Monday: My Main Squeeze

It's the start of a new week and it's a hot one here today! This little top was meant to be a dress, but I didn't have quite enough fabric for that. I really wanted to make my daughter something with this fabric, so I went forth anyways.

I made it quickly one night while she was on a daddy date, so I wasn't quite sure how the fit would be. But, I'm pleased with the outcome.

My daughter likes it too!

It was a really simple design. My favorite thing is how the top is held together with buttons and ribbon loops. I feel it adds a unique quality to it.

Now, what to make for next week.....

Fabric: I bought it at JoAnn's, but I think it's in the Alexander Henry line.
Pattern: One I made myself.