Marking time

Remember those great vintage post cards I found a while back?  I used them to create this perpetual calendar.  I saw the idea over at Design Sponge ages ago and finally had the time to finish it.

I am constantly wishing I was doing more to record all the great things going on in my life daily, while simultaneously trying not to keep too much and end up with Rubbermaid tubs full of things my kids made (I'm looking at you Mom).  

That's why I love this little calendar.  There is a small card for each day of the year.  The months are divided by my vintage postcards.  The whole idea is to write a little line about the day on the card, every year.  I think it will be really fun to compare what we were doing over the years. 

My only fear now is what to write on those boring days that come along.....  does"sorted massive pile of socks and underwear" count?

Bow ties for baby

I'm off to a baby shower tonight and I'm so excited that the baby is a boy!  I love my little girls, but it's fun to dream up new ideas for little boys.  My favorite look for boys is prepster meets casual, which is why these dapper little bow ties are perfect.  The best part is they only take 5 minutes to make.  Well, actually the best part is that they double as sweet bows for little girls and can be added to belts, clips and headbands. And let's be honest, it could even be made into something for yourself ;)

Here are the super easy instructions :

Gather up scissors, a pin/brooch clasp, a glue gun, a 1" x 9" strip of felt and a .3/4" x 2 1/4" strip of felt.

(Makes a 3" wide bow, adjust the length of your long strip to make bigger or smaller)

Fold one side of the long felt strip to about three inches or so.

Flip the whole thing over and fold the other side in.

Add a dot of glue under each fold to secure.

Add another dot of glue to the center of the top fold and lay your small strip of felt on it long-wise.

Flip the bow over and secure the ends of the short strip of felt with glue, pulling them in a bit so the bow cinches a little in the middle.  Glue down the pin clasp in the center while you're there.

Last step: Flip the bow back to the front and trim the two ends with your scissors.  Cut a little triangle on each and you're done!

Easy, right?

DIY threading cards

One of the pitfalls of staying at home with kids is the sometimes overwhelming task of entertaining them.  My three year old is always looking for new things to do.  Since we already own waaay too many store bought toys, it's fun to come up things we can make around here.  Homemade projects aren't meant to last forever, but they get the job done for a while.

Today we made "threading" cards using the computer, card stock, a hole punch, a paper poking tool (official name?), and some shoe laces.  Want to do it too?

Step one:  Print off a very simple image in a 4x6 size using your program of choice onto heavy card stock. (see image above)

Step two: Punch as many holes as you can reach with the hole punch.  Keep the holes to a minimum (so paper won't rip) and nice and spread out.

Step three: Use your paper poker to get to the areas you couldn't reach with your hole punch.  My poker has two sides, one for making a small pinhole, and one rounded side to push through the hole and make it bigger and round.  If you don't own a poker, you could just as easily use a need to make a small hole and then use a pencil to gently make the hole bigger and rounder.

Step four:  Have a little one help you thread the shoelaces through the holes (again and again). 

I'm not sure how long the paper will hold up, but it's keeping her busy for now, and that's all that matters.

Fabric Dyeing 101

I love fashion, but I must confess I don't have the best track record in the clothing department.  When I see things on sale I swear my heart beats faster.  I quicken my step and sift through the racks, oohing and ahhing over the great deals.  Most of the time I end up leaving with something that is ill-fitting in the complete wrong color, all the while exclaiming things like, "can you believe that was only $9.99!?"

After wearing these items a couple of times I eventually come to my senses and get rid of them.  If it's the wrong shape, it has to go.  But if the item fits well and is just the wrong color it's a little sad to say goodbye.

I was so happy to see the February issue of  Lucky Magazine in which they show how to dye your own clothes at home.  I tried it myself this last weekend and am dying (sorry) to show you the results!

So, here's the dress.  Cute polka dots, ruffled skirt and silk sash.  Turns out all of those things are a little too cute when put together.  Also, the cream washed me out.  Bought two years ago (on sale) at the Gap.  Only worn once.

A little bit of time and some dye that cost me $2.78 and this is what I have:

Want to do it yourself?  Here's what you need:

A cotton, silk or synthetic garment
A big pot
A cup of salt
RIT dye (powder or liquid)
Gloves
Chopsticks or something else to stir the pot
Bleach (for clean up)

The directions in Lucky Magazine were different from those found on the RIT bottle, but I used them anyway and things turned out great!  You can see the article online here.

:::Step One:

Fill your pot with water, add cup of salt and bring to a boil on the stove.

:::Step Two:

Add dye and stir well.  It was a little confusing how much to use, but I used the whole bottle since I was covering up a pattern.  You may only need half for one solid-colored item.

:::Step Three:

Wet your garment in the sink with warm water and wring out the excess.

:::Step Four:

Stir regularly for 40-60 minutes. I did the full 60 minutes since I was trying to cover those polka dots.

Note: You may need to adjust the heat level throughout to make sure it is simmering, but not overflowing.

:::Step Five:

Turn the stove off and let pot cool for 20 minutes or so.

:::Step Six:

Wearing gloves, dump the dye water into the bathtub and let drain.  Rinse the garment in warm water until water runs completely clear.  This part took forever with this dress and the water was cold by the end.  No harm done.

:::Step Seven:

Lucky says to let the garment dry at this point, but the bottle says to wash with a gentle soap. I was really concerned with making sure all that blue dye was gone, so I washed the dress in the bathtub with a little of Mrs. Meyers soap and rinsed again.  Hang the garment in the shower/bathtub with an old towel underneath it and let it air dry overnight.  Voila!

Note: Immediately scrub your bathtub with the bleach and a little bit of powder cleaner if needed.  I also soaked my pot with bleach before putting it in the dishwasher.

And now, the possibilities are endless:

Tiny notebooks

I can't remember where I heard it recently, but someone said that in America we're fascinated by things that are tiny and things that are really big.  Totally true!  Think about it.  Take anything you think of as so-so and then shrink it a little.  Suddenly it's cute.  Blow it up big and suddenly it's amazing.

I've been experimenting with bookbinding lately.  Once I had mastered the basics of a very-very simple version of binding, I decided to make them smaller.  Instant cuteness :)

These are very easy to make and much more fun to use than a regular notepad.  The tutorial I used can be found right here.  I changed the size of my cover to be 3.75 " by 5" and the pages are 3.5" by 4.75."

Shortly after the New Year I sent these out as special gifts to anyone who commented here that week.  Thanks again for being so great!

Picnic Party Reveal

The party has been had!  There is still bunting hanging from the ceiling and the living room is all messed up, but I'm sitting here, uploading pictures of course.  I went a little overboard with the pictures this time so if you're over the whole indoor picnic theme, just look away.  I promise we're moving on after today :).

 

A wagon full of gifts hung with paper bunting.  Special messages from family and friends are written on the back side.

Blueberry cobbler baked in jars with cupcake liner lids and sweet lemon candies.

Treat bags for the kids.

 Shortbread button cookies.

 An "oh happy day" banner made using doilies, cupcake liners, paper tags and brads.

 Pom-pom flowers made of yarn.

 

A garland made using cupcake liners.

Whew!  That was a lot.  Just wanted you to feel like you were really there.  Thank you to all who shared our little girl's day and to all of you here for celebrating with us!

Indoor Picnic Invites

Come on Spring

Every year after Christmas I have the terrible realization that Spring is still very far off.  Even though it may not be Spring outside, I'm already there in my mind.

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I'm dreaming of flowers, striped bikinis, cropped pants and popsicles.  Rolled down windows and picnic blankets are calling my name.  For now I'm just sitting at home making my own flowers out of wool felt.



I made these beauties the other night in my sweats while talking on the phone.  Super simple.  The best tutorial I found for them was right here (click) from Jones Design Company.  I plan on giving them as gifts, adding ribbon to make a belt, adding a pin to attach to cardigans, perhaps some really big ones on my little girl's wall-so many possibilities!  The best part is that they can be made using any fabric.  Enjoy :)

DIY inspiration

Do you remember being young and wanting something you couldn't have?  Did you ever try to make something of your own that was similar (at least in your mind) to that thing you couldn't live without?  I think that's truly the essence of the "do it yourself"  movement.

A while back I discovered the ultimate DIY blog called PS I made this.  I think I first heard about it in a magazine last summer. This girl Erica Domesek makes crazy things that will make you do a double take!  The site features fashion and home projects arranged in cool collages and easy to follow instructions.

Here's a little taste:

Would you wear that shirt? I think it's stunning.

Amazing!  And last, but not least, the only project I have tried myself (so far)

Here's a picture of mine.  Some of my vases were originally pink (I would not advise this!) and still need a couple more coats, but you get the main idea:

Erica's stuff is so awesome she wrote a book about it this last fall.

Inspired yet?