Little Ms. Claus Dress: What I'm Makin' Monday

Monday is almost over, but I figured it's better I post it today than next Monday when it's WAY after Christmas! I'm so proud of my creation!

I can't take all of the crecit cause I got an idea to make a dress like this after seeing a similar one by my friend Jess's sister who own's the shop Our Little Tutus. So if you think you can't make one of these, you can buy one for under $30!

I saw a picture of her Santa tutu dress and decided to create one with the flair of a pettiskirt. So I made a tutu pettiskirt style dress using tulle, ribbon, a red crocheted baby beanie and headband and feathers/more tulle.

I made it by hand sewing together a red baby beanie I opened up to a wide baby headband.

Then I made the tutu dress like I explained in this tutorial. Then I tied small white strips to the ends of the red tulle skirt to make it look like a mock pettiskirt.

I added more frill by hand stitching a feather boa-like embellishment to the top front of the dress bodice. Note: DON'T stitch it all around. I did that at first and forgot that she'd have to fit in it. The bodice gives but the feather's didn't so I had to undo half of my stitching around the back.

After a photoshoot with the feather's I realized baby drool and feathers don't mix so I went back and tied white tulle to the top of the bodice (the same way I did with the red around the bottom) and trimmed it all down to the same length.

I added a black satin ribbon as the Ms. Claus belt with a rhinestone buckle (I found at Hobby Lobby).

TADA!

How to Make DIY Wall Letters: What I'm Makin' Monday

I've been meaning to post about this for a long time, but I never got around to it because I forgot to import my photos.

Before my daughter was born I decorated wooden wall letters to hang in her nursery, over her diaper changer. I looked at buying some but thought a personal touch would not only save me some money, but be a fun way to get exactly what I was looking for. It didn't take much time, and I had nothing but it when I was waiting for her to arrive!

(This isn't mine but it's an example of a finished product)

I'm not much of a painter myself so I used scrapbook paper to get a clean look with a pretty finish that makes it look like it was painted on!

{All you need} 

Is a little modge podge, paint, the letters, an X-ACTO knife, a little sand paper, and some scrapbook paper, and you're good to go!

I ordered my daughter's letters off Ebay. I got 10" letters for a couple dollars each from a place like this.

{Step 1} 

I painted the backs and sides of the letters.

{Step 2} 

Spread Modge Podge all over the letter then placed the scrapbook paper over top, and put more modge podge on top.

{Step 3} 

Then I used my X-ACTO-knife to trace/cut around the edges of the letters with the scrapbook paper I picked out.

{Step 4}
Sand around the edges to smooth out the paper next to the wood.

{Step 5-Optional} 

To make it pretty and hang it up I tacked some satin ribbon to the back of the letters and hung them up in her nursery!

 Trust me, it looks marvelous!

Another example: Source.

What did you make?

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What I'm Makin Monday: Baby Hair Bows

Woohoo! It's my 2nd "What I'm Makin' Monday" I'm keeping the streak alive so far, and I have another fun giveaway this week too.

Before I was even TRYING to get pregnant I was obsessed with cute little baby hair bows. Specifically the humongous flower ones with the netting headbands. I was obsessed. But I couldn't believe the prices for some of these things... $7, $10 some even $20! There must be a way to make them for less!!

I discovered these Petaloo flowers at Hobby Lobby for $5.99. They were PERFECT for my new craft. The large box contained 20 assorted flowers in varying sizes. I also bought a couple of big tubs of silk flowers from Lakeside Collection for less than $5 a tub for 400 flowers.It was an easy way to mix and match the flowers to make adorable headbands. But recently, my friend and soon-to-be maternity, birth, and full-time personal photographer Tara showed me a trick with flowers from the dollar store... yes the dollartree!! Which is nice because sometimes the other bundles are lacking these larger flowers.I bought a couple boquets there for well... a dollar, and decided to give it a try this week. I had A LOT I mean, like over 100 of bows to finish for people who donated to March of Dimes during my fundraiser and I finally finished them! I still have to take out a loan to be able to mail them all but anyway... Here's how I did it:

Besides the flowers you'll need:

-Some grosgrain ribbon

-A hot glue gun

-Metal brads

-Double prong metal hair clips

-Headbands (optional)

1. Take the petals out of the boxes/tubs/ pull them off the silk flowers from the dollar store. They come completely apart, and you can sort them by color and decide how you want to match up the flowers in layers.

2. Organize the flowers by placing them how you'd like to see them when they're done. I usually made mine with 3-4 layers, obviously with the bigger ones in the back, but sometimes I'd get creative.

3. Stick the brad through to hold the flowers together.

4. Take your ribbon and glue it around the double prong metal hair clip. I burned the edges of the ribbon after I glued it with a lighter so it wouldn't fray.

5. Stick the brad through the middle of the ribbon and between the two metal prongs of the hair clippy, open the brad accross the other side to keep it in place.

TADA!!

If you want you can add the clippy to a crocheted headband. I use to make them but when I realized I had to make like 100 of these things I ordered some on eBay for a great deal! I prefer to pay less than $0.50/ headband, and there's a shop I buy them from for about $0.41 each with free shipping!

You can also make a headband if you have extra pantie hose around, just cut it off at the right length and sew the two ends together. Stick the clippy flower where it's stitched together and TADA!!!

Check out my models:

(Zoila)

(Bubby)

I probably spent about $45 to make about 60 flower headbands (more than that in clippes) and I still have lots of leftover flowers, but that's because I bought some of the more expensive Petaloo flowers at first, and didn't buy as many from the dollar store. That's about $0.75/ headband! Granted, buying the supplies in bulk helps.

Sadly Spawnie won't have all 60 to herself, she actually has about 2, but I'm hoping once these are all mailed off I'll get to making more just for her... I'm thinking, one for every day/outfit and who knows, maybe one day I'll sell these.

I ended up having a few extra flower hair clippies and I'll give two of them to of you!

**To enter**

Be(come) a follower of my blog or link up to my "What I'm Makin(g) Monday" with a post of your own! Just add your link to the Mr. Linky below but make sure your post has a link back to this post. Eventually I'll have a cute button you can share but for now... Just boring old text links.

If you are a follower AND link up, leave two comments, you double your entries! I'm loving visiting your sites and seeing what you're making, whether it's food or a craft, it's inspiring me to try more things!

What I'm Makin(g) Monday: Wall Vinyl Decal! {And Giveaway!}

I'm sucking at this meme thing already. I mentioned planning to start one this week, and here I am, finally posting it Monday afternoon...

In an effort to make myself more crafty, and also brag a little about some of my accomplishments, I thought it would be fun to make Monday my craft-related post day. It'll also hopefully be a fun way to see other crafts out there that I haven't heard of and that I'd like to maybe try (or buy) when others link up and share their skills.

Here's the idea: Share a post, a link, a photo, a tutorial, whatever of something you've made. It can be a craft, food, digital design, whatever!! Maybe later I'll get specific with some prompts but for now people can just share whatever they want. I'll also post something I've made which may or may not include a tutorial. For the first little while, everyone who participates will be entered for a giveaway, and I'll announce what the giveaway item is that week. Some may be big, and some may be small, some maybe even be nothing at all... We'll see how it goes. So if you know wannabe crafters or chefs out there, or people who already are, let them know there's another place to share!

This week will be a little different since it's short notice and it's the first week! But there's still a giveaway everyone can enter at the end.

So let's get this party started... As part 3 of my Operation Nursery Makeover, and my first ever installment of "What I'm Makin(g) Monday" I made a wall decal for Spawnie's Nursery.

Trading Phrases contacted me a couple of months ago about their beautiful wall vinyl designs. I checked out their nursery designs and found the perfect one for Spawnie's room!

It says "With a Butterfly Kiss and a Ladybug Hug, Sleep Tight Little One, Like a Bug in a Rug." I thought since her room is butterfly themed, and I call her my little bug it was PERFECT.

They were really nice and suggested I get color samples so I knew for sure it would match our room. I did as they suggested and narrowed it down to three greens and three pinks, they sent me a postcard with little stickers of the vinyl's color and I picked my two favorite.

Shortly after I got the vinyl in the mail all rolled up nicely in a tube, and was ready to get to work! But I had a dilemma... Our walls are a little lumpy, "textured" I guess is the correct term. The nice people at Trading Phrases told me it would still work, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't want to stick it directly on my wall. I remembered a project I did once for my living room and got an idea!

First, I bought some wood at Lowe's, I bought a big piece that was 4 feet long, by 2 feet wide, and got it cut down to 17in wide (the size of the vinyl). It wasn't thick... About 1/4 of an inch.

I got home and painted it with two coats of brown, and a coat of sealant. You can get sealant at any craft store, and it's not too expensive... about $5 for a bottle that should last awhile.

I made sure to get the sides and everything real good, and then I waited for it to dry.

Now it's time to get the vinyl! ... See where I'm going with this? One thing I like about Trading Phrases is they sent two pieces of "practice vinyl" with smaller phrases so I could get the hang of how to peel the papers and stuff before I did it for real... Good idea cause reading the instructions were a little confusing at first, but after I tried it a couple of times on the bottom of the my door for practice, I got the hang of it.

Now it was time to lay it out on the wood. Since mine came in two parts I took some time to mark where I wanted each piece to start and stop. Since the wood was practically the perfect size I had to make sure no words were falling off the edge.

I got it lined up and put down the first part.

Then the second part! And then covered both with another layer of sealant. I noticed there was some blank space in the bottom corner of the wood, and normally on the wall I think it would look fine, but since it was plain brown there I decided to spruce it up a little with some paper butterflies I had left over from the butterfly mobile I made. Then... TADA!!!!

What do you think? See, now the whole point of this meme thing is to get encouragement so don't let me down!

I'm really happy with how it all turned out, and the best part is I can take it with me when we move!

If you DO put it on the wall, it's way easy to take off just by peeling, or adding a little heat (with something like a blow dryer) and peeling.

Want to try this craft yourself? Trading Phrases has offered to donate this wall decal to one of my readers!! It'll come in black 24in X 11in, it's over a $39 value! And if you want to add it to a plaque, now you know how!! Want to get to know Trading Phrases better? They're @TradingPhrases on twitter and they have a Facebook Fan Page.

*HOW TO ENTER*

Visit Trading Phrases and tell me your favorite wall decal in the comments. That's all! See? Easy peasey!

*FOR EXTRA ENTRIES*

-Be(come) a follower of my blog

-Link up to What I'm makin(g) Monday this Monday 4/12 or next Monday 4/19 or the last day of the giveaway 4/26, and leave a comment letting me know you did! (2 entries for each time you participate!)

Contest ends April 26th, at 11:59pm. Random.org will choose a winner! Good luck!

Did you make something? Please share! In your post, link back to "What I'm Makin(g) Monday" and link up!

How to Make Baby Leg Warmers

In my quest to make myself more crafty, and to make myself feel like a domestic diva I want to document my different projects progress on my blog. I'm hoping for one crafty-related post a week, and I've been making Spawnie a lot so it shouldn't be so hard!

I can't take all of the credit for my ideas though, so I'll show you where I get them!

I had never heard of baby leg warmers or BabyLegs until a few months ago. I hear they're amazingly convenient for diaper changes cause you don't have to take down/ unbutton any pants. They're also nice to keep your baby's legs from getting rug burn while they're crawling around.I thought they were totally adorable but worried of Spawnie was a boy they may look a little silly on him. I took a chance though and bought some leg warmers from Dittany Baby. But they're called skidpants there. I'm still not sure of the difference, I think it's a brand thing, but either way they're adorable! I bought these BYU ones on sale for $4.50 at Dittany baby!Once I found out Spawnie was a girl I wanted more! I started shopping around but realized the price for one pair easily is $12-$15 for a PAIR! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for spending the money on cute stuff, but I'm also a bargain hunter.

I was tweeting with people about baby leg warmers and a few women told me they were really easy to make. I was worried shopping for fabric, cutting and measuring would take me forever so I was a little hesitant at first but a few sent me links to a tutorial on how to make baby leg warmers from knee socks!

So, to see how easy it was I tried it myself! I bought a 6 pack of women's knee socks off Ebay for $13.1. Cut the feet off the bottoms.2. Turn them inside out and fold up the bottom.
3. Stitch around them flip right side out. (I hand stitched these during my lunch break at work one night).Viola!! It took seriously about half an hour to make a pair and that's because I was HAND STITCHING. My sewing machine is having some problems but it would literally take me about a minute to make a pair using my machine. But that should give women who don't have/ know how to use sewing machines some courage.

So there you go! I'll make 6 pairs of baby leg warmers for $13. Not bad eh? Hopefully I can keep this craftiness up! I'm becoming more domestic than I ever imagined!