Just Like Daddy...Little Boy Ties

I hate going to dress my son for church and realizing he has nothing nice to wear.  For girls, it seems to be so easy to just put a cute little dress on.  I'm too cheap to spend a lot of money on boy outfits that he will only wear for a few months before he grow out of them.  I was so excited when I went to a church activity where they were teaching us how to make these adorable ties.  

I put this project on the back burner for a little while and then finally pulled them out and finished them.  I used the excellent tutorial found at Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky!  It is a great tutorial for those who don't have a sewing machine at their disposal.

I am now going to raid my local thrift stores and my husband's closet for more ties.  

 

Car Punch Frame

I've decorated my son's room with a transportation theme but now that he is a toddler, I need to incorporate some older looking decorations.  So I came up with this...

It was such a simple and cheap project and I think it would make a great baby gift.  I originally got the idea from my friend, Leslie on her craft blog, Side Notes.  To go with the them of the room, she took off the backing and glued the butterflies directly onto the glass.  So cute!

To start off my project, I found a cheap but oh so cute frame at one of our thrift stores.  I absolutely LOVED the frame design and the square shape.  It was also a huge plus that it came with an adorable looking mat.  Upon closer examination...I discovered it would be difficult to remove the picture so I just glued he the paper I'd chosen on top.  Before gluing the paper on, I painted a thin black line on the edge of the picture to give the finished project a more layered look.  

I recently got a 50% coupon from Michaels that I needed to use up so I got my wonderful new Martha Stewart's car punch.

I then went through my stash and picked colors that went well with the background paper and the frame and mat.  To give the cars their raised look I used something similar to glue dots.

I put the frame back on after a little touch up paint and Ta-Da!   

 I'm still trying to decide if I want to hang it with ribbon instead of using the hook on the back.  Would the ribbon be too much for a boy?  Any thoughts?

I linked up with The Shabby Nest Frugal Friday.  Go check out the other amazing frugal projects.

Dress Up Cloths

I was looking through my patterns and came across some kid costumes.  I have wanted to make some dress up cloths for a while now.  I looked through my stash of fabric and found a brand new white twin flat sheet that I had used for a skit once.  PERFECT!  

First off I made a doctors coat.  I adjusted the pattern Simplicity 3650.  The original pattern is for making scrubs.  I adjusted it by putting the back on the fold instead of the front piece.  I also adjusted the collar the same way.  I then just did a narrow hem on the openings in the front.  It was an easy pattern to follow (which I have issues with usually) except for the sleeves.  I pretty much bagged their way and made it work my own way.  

I also made a chef outfit for the play kitchen I have.  I used the same pattern (Simplicity 3650) for the hat and I got the toddler sized chef's apron from Supafine's tutorial.  Both were extremely easy to make and look adorable on the kids.    

(my models consist of my unwilling to model son and two girls I watch during the week)

Ribbon Loop Soft Block

My niece was just born the other day and I wanted to make a super fast and fun gift to take over in exchange for me getting to hold her.  This is such a fun and easy project.  To make this project easier I first sewed the ribbon to the flannel squares as close to the edge as possible before constructing the block.   This way I knew that all the ribbon was securely attached.

I think next time I'm going to do some appliqué on the sides of the block and add some ribbon there instead of so much at the seams.

New and Improved Block Container

FROM THIS.......

TO THIS.....

With a little mod podge and some construction fabric I was able to transform a boring container into the perfect way to store our wooden blocks.   My mom supplied me with the idea, the used container, and the fabric.  Thanks Mom! 

Fabric Travel High Chair

One of the down sides about traveling with kids is the amount of stuff that you have to take!  By the time you get all of their stuff in the car you can only take one change of clothing and your toothbrush for yourself.  One of those necessities is a high chair.  They have some pretty small ones you can buy like the ones that strap to a chair or to the table but they both take up too much room.  One day I came across a fabric travel high chair that only takes up 1% of the trunk.  

I've had this project 98% done for months now but I FINALLY finished putting the last little Velcro on it.  It was such a simple project and very handy to take on trips.

I first spotted the project at homemade by jill and she linked to a tutorial at this momma makes stuff.  I used the measurements that Jill had on her site and some of my scrap fabric.  It worked perfectly.  This would make a great baby shower gift.

Cape

I meant to post this months ago (I made this shortly before Halloween of 2009) and forgot about it. And now I'm a bit embarrassed to post it because it is so wrinkly and worn out now. Oh well...I guess it shows how much it my son loves it.

A friend helped me make this reversible cape: Batman on one side, Superman on the other. Once again, I didn't think to do tutorial pictures while I was making it (I really need to work on that), but thankfully, someone else has already done that (I just found it online...horray!).

Check out the tutorial here. Now before you get started, let me just tell you that I opted not to use felt (because it balls up and doesn't look as nice sometimes after you wash it) and used cotton instead. I also was using scraps, so I had to piece the neck straps on, but in the end, I was happier with that option. Now, there is more strap length inside the seam, so I can just open it up and adjust it as my son grows. I didn't use velcro on the straps either...we just tie them and that works for us.

Good luck! If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Valentine's Day Decor

Construction paper hearts for Valentine's Day is probably a given in any home with children in it, but we thought it would be fun to hang our hearts instead of just putting them on the walls. I originally thought we'd thread the the yarn through the hearts, but scotch tape was easier for my 3 year old to use (and didn't take as long).

I also hate wasting paper if I don't have to, so we used the scraps from cutting the hearts to make this...my son was so proud of his heart collage!

Appliqued Burp Rags

My brother's wife is expecting her first girl in April so I started on some of the gifts for her.  After asking her what she wanted/needed one of the things she said was burp cloths.  In the past I've made burp cloths out of flannel which you can see one set HERE.  I think they turn out really cute but with mine I had a problem with them smelling like rotten milk.  I couldn't get out the smell no matter what I soaked them in.  To solve this dilemma I used regular dish rags and appliqued her baby colors on.  

I used my stencils for the hearts, bird, and flower rags and I just pieced together the fabric for the rags with the strips.  I used Heat-n-Bond Lite which worked wonderful to applique the fabric to the rag.  (Wonder Under would work as well.)

The part that took me the longest was sewing the fabric down.  I decided to do a straight stitch so the rag will have the frayed look after it is washed AND my sewing machine is SOOO temperamental that I would have gone crazy before I was done if I did a zigzag stitch.  

I love the outline it left on the back.  

The purple and green fabric I got at Joann's and the yellow quarter I got at Walmart.  I used coupons at Joann's and the quarter at Walmart was on sale so I got all my fabric really cheap.

It was such a simple and affordable project.  It also makes an adorable baby gift.  

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

2c. peanut butter(divided)

3/4c. butter, softened

2c. powdered sugar

3c. graham cracker crumbs (approx 2 packages of graham crackers)

2c. semi-sweet chocolate chips(divided)

Beat 1 1/4c. peanut butter and butter in a large bowl. Beat in powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs and 1/2c. chocolate chips. Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Melt remaining chocolate chips & peanut butter. Spread over the crumb mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour. Store in the refrigerator.

*Sorry I forgot to take a picture but this recipe is so good it must be shared even without a visual.*