Over-the-Top Baby Headbands

This past September I went a little crazy making some over-the-top headbands for my Baby Girl.  She loved them.  The Gray Headband was more like a hat then a bow, but she loved it and my older girls could wear this one also.

Baby Headband in Gray:

Baby Headband in Purple;

Red and white Feather Headband:

 The three headbands below were very simple.  I had seen the top flower pieces for clearance online and had to get them, as I felt they would make great baby headbands.  By just adding the elastic band, they are simply perfect and elegant.

Cream:

Mauve:

 Black:

Made to Match Headbands

Here are some headbands I recently made to match specific outfits.

Mint Green and Black:

Light Blue, Gray and Maroon:

Navy Blue, Gray and Yellow:

Shabby Pumpkin Headbands

I recently saw these cute Shabby Pumpkins and knew I just had to make something cute with them. So I purchased them and right away started working on some cute fall baby headbands for my baby girl.  I was so pleased with how they turned out.

$5

$8

Isn't she just adorable in her Shabby Pumpkin Headband?

Holly Hobbie and Dorothy

Here are some cute costumes I made in the past for my girls:

Holly Hobbie:

At the time I made the Holly Hobbie Costume, my then 5 year old daughter was really into watching the new Holly Hobbie movies.  So I found a pattern(s) on ebay and purchased them.  The first pattern I purchased said it had been cut and all pieces accounted for, but when I set out to start laying out the pattern, it was missing all the pieces for the dress, so I then used this Simplicity pattern I found on Ebay:

My daughter was so excited to be Holly Hobby:

Dorothy:

This same year, my then 3 year old daughter wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, mainly because she wanted red sparkly shoes.

I used Simplicity Pattern 4139:

She also loved her costume:

Ghost Bride

This year for Halloween, one of my daughters wanted to be a Ghost Bride. 

So we visited a few of the local Halloween Costume stores and to her disappointment, we were unable to find a bride costume.  So we ended up buying her some white face makeup, white glitter lipstick and grey glitter eye shadow, with the promise that I would come up with a Bride Costume for her.  While on our way home I remembered that we had a cream Tangled Dress-up and decided that I could make a veil to go with it.  I purchased the Tulle at our local fabric store and returned home to make her veil.  The veil was so easy to make and only took me about 30 minutes to do.  I had the headband, flowers and ribbon already.  I took the Tulle and decided to have 3 layers, all at different lengths.  I only needed to make one cut as I folded the other piece of tulle to, so I could make a little poof at the front of the veil.  I gathered the tulle together at the front and then sewed it about 2 inches from the fold with the 3rd later attached underneath.  I then hot glued the veil onto a wide plastic headband, glued on the flowers (which had been previously purchased years ago at the dollar store) and then glued some ribbon streamers on the sides.  The Veil turned out better than I expected and she loved it. 

 In the end she ended up being a Beautiful Bride as the face makeup we bought did not go on very well and looked too heavy to be a Ghost Bride.

Here are a couple more views of the veil:

Supplies Used:

*3 yards of Tulle
*1/2 " thick plastic headband
* bunch of flowers from the dollar store
*approximately 100 inches silk ribbon

Halloween Bows

I made some new Halloween Bows this month for family and friends.  Similar to ones I made several years ago.  My daughter's lost our purple spiderweb bows, so we were able to find some similar ribbon and make new ones.

Halloween and Fall Project Memory Lane

I have made lots of fun sewing and craft projects over the years.

 A few weeks ago, I was looking through some of my patterns and came across the pattern for the very first Wood project I did when I was about 14 or 15. My Mom had been shopping at our local Mac's Hobby and Craft store (miss this store) and saw a list of Super Saturday classes the store offered and decided that she wanted the "Trick or Treaters Stop Here" yard sign and signed me up for the next Super Saturday class (which became her monthly ritual for me after the first project turned out so well).  I spent all day Saturday Painting the sign and it turned out so cute.  Cute enough that it was stolen out of my Parents front yard before Halloween even arrived.

This is what the finished sign looked like and since it was taken, my Mom wanted a new one made, so she bought the pattern, unfinished wood sign and the paints.  The original green paints used on the witches hair were sold out, so we used some darker colors and it even looked better.  I am not sure what happened to the second sign, possibly years of being out in the weather finally taking its toll.  I have kept the patter, thinking one day I might make one for my yard.

And since I am taking a stroll down Memory Lane, here are a few more fall projects I have made over the years (most of the earlier projects my Mom still has and decorates her house with each fall season).

After my Mom got me started with Super Saturday classes at the local craft store each month I then also became very eager to learn how to do new crafts all the time. And here is a bit of how each of the above projects came about.

Witch on the Mantel: A dear sweet woman that my Mom babysat for and I would tend for at nights or on the weekend as needed, knew I loved to work on craft projects and invited me with her on several of her crafting adventures.  This witch was one of such adventures.

Scarecrows: I love to sew and my Mom would always have all kinds of sewing projects for me to work on, so one fall she had me make these cute scarecrows.

Pumpkin Patch Sign and Fall Wreath:  One of my Church Young Women Leaders would help the Relief Society with their Homemaking nights and was a very crafty person.  My Mom would take me along with her to Relief Society night to help her with projects and I would have her sign up for double or additional projects so I could have them for myself.

The Halloween Fence Post and Jack-O-Lantern: These were projects I started (and completed at home) at a Church Super Saturday event.

Black Cat: When I was 18 or 19 I took some Toll Painting classes at the local craft store and this was supposed to be part of a wreath that had a painted moon as the second half of the wreath.  The moon broke in my car one day (I didn't really like it anyway), so the cat as always hung alone.  This cat is one of my best toll painting projects I believe I had ever done.  (now if I would just finish the pilgrim wreath I had also started in this class, which was at least 15 years ago...).

Hurricane Centerpiece.  A few years ago I wanted a wreath to go around my candle hurricane and found the wreaths to be out of my price range.  So by visiting the local Michael's I purchased a small pumpkin twig garland and a leaf garland and made my own.

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Halloween Skirts

I love making Holiday outfits for my kids and lucky for me they love it to.  I found some really cute Halloween Fabric at Hancock Fabric's a couple of years ago and decided that my girls needed some Halloween Skirts.  I also came across this really cute Halloween skirt tutorial from Izzy and Ivy Designs.

The Fabric was purchased and I made the 3 layer skirt for my oldest daughter and then made a 2 layer skirt using a basic skirt pattern for my younger daughter.  They both loved their skirts and were so excited to wear them.  My oldest daughter wore her's to school and the day she wore it, her Teacher loved it and had her model it in front of the class and then when she went to Art class, the Art Teacher also loved it and had to take a picture of her in the skirt.  Both girls have received so many compliments about their skirts.  I love the pom pom trim, it adds such a fun playful texture to the skirts.

Clown Ballerina Costume

When my second daughter requested  to be a Clown Ballerina for her pre-school circus days , I immediately remembered an ad I had saved earlier in the year (I liked the costumes in the ad and saved it for ideas in the future) from Hancock Fabrics advertising a costume pattern from Simplicity with a Clown Ballerina .

I went to work deciding how her particular costume would turn out.  I started by searching for a white leotard.  I didn't think it would be so hard to find a white leotard.  I visited the local Walmart, Target and  Shopko for one with no luck, only pink and black options.  I tried Dillards, Macy's, Kohls and TJMaxx, still no white leotard.  I then searched for a local dance store and found one several miles from my home, so I loaded the kids up in the car and headed to the Dance Place and found that they only had 2 available.  Lucky for me one was in the size I needed.  However, the leotard was a bit more pricey then I had expected, but since I couldn't find one any where else, I decided I had to buy it.  I also stopped in at a local Kid to Kid store for a pair of cute pink polka dot baby legs.

Next was purchasing the tulle for the tutu and some pom poms for the chest.  Since I didn't want the pom poms to be permanent on the leotard, I attached pins to the pom poms, and then pinned them on.  I made the tutu with green, pink and blue tulle.  I also made the neck fluff and wrist fluff with the same tulle as the tutu. I then completed the ensemble by making a matching pair of hair bows for her hair using the tulle and the pom poms.

She made such a cute Clown Ballerina and had fun wearing it for some Halloween activities the following year.

Here is the end result.

Supplies used:

-White leotard
- Multi pack of pom poms (includes several different colors and sizes)
- 3 rolls of 6" wide tulle in different colors to match your pom poms
- Elastic (I used 1/2")
- pair of baby legs or leg warmers
- 1 inch bar pins (for the pom poms on the leotard if you don't want them permanent)
- alligator hair clips
- hot glue

Witch Costume

When my oldest daughter was six, she wanted to be a "Cute Witch" for Halloween and wanted me to make the costume for her.

I decided that I would base her costume around a purple and green tulle tutu I had made for her pre-school circus day a year and a half earlier when she wanted to be a ballerina.

To make it halloweenie, I added some black tulle to the tutu.  We also picked up a pair of purple and black stripped tights at the local Walmart or Target.

I found a plain black witches hat in the dollar bins at Target and decided to dress it up a bit.  I purchased some black roses and purple flowers at Michael's and glued them to the hat and then wove and attached some of the green tulle I had left over from the tutu. In all I believe the hat ended up costing me less then $10 to make (and since then I have worn it for several Halloween activities and received several compliments on it).

I then searched the web for a capelet tutorial.  The one I found that I felt would work the best for this costume was on the blog Ruffles & Stuff.  

I purchased some perfect black spiderweb fabric at the local fabric store and  made some adjustments to the capelet to make it to fit a child instead of an adult. I added a large ruffle around the neck and a smaller ruffle around the rest of the capelet.  Lastly, I added some fun Black and Purple Halloween ribbon around the neckline so the capelet could be tied closed.

Of course a Witch Costume would not be complete without a broom and I found one at either the local Walmart or Target and then dressed it up with some purple and green tulle.  My daughter loved her costume.

Supplies used:

- black witch hat
- black and purple silk flowers
- green, purple and black 6" tulle rolls
- 1 yard Halloween fabric
- 1 spool of Halloween ribbon
- 1/2" elastic
- hot glue
- thread

Witch Boots

October is here and I am so excited to put out my Halloween Decorations.  My Sisters and I all love to do wood projects and love to frequent the Wood Connection (some of us more than others).  We have been getting together regularly to work on craft projects for almost 3 years and we have so much fun.  During one of our Craft Days I painted these fun Witch Boots.

I also made an orange pair for my Mom.

Fall Hurricane Vases

I found this cute and inexpensive DIY project on Pinterest for a Fall hurricane decoration.  These Hurricanes were put together by Amanda Jane Brown (she also has more fun ideas on her blog for Hurricanes).

I really liked the look and felt they would look great on my Kitchen Counter.  I found my Hurricanes at Tai Pan and happened to go on a day when they were 50% off.  Such a simple yet fun project.

Fall Porch Garland

Garland has hung from our porch each fall since we purchased our first home.  My mother had given me a large grapevine garland so I put it to use.  I soaked it and then stretched it across our cute little bungalow porch.  I then added leaf garland, sunflowers, and plastic gourds to it (my husband drilled all the holes needed in the gourds to attach them).

Over the next eight years I added more leaves and flowers to the garland.  It has always been the first decoration to go out each fall.

The only pictures I have of the original garland (October 2004):

Since our move, I have found our new porch is much longer than our previous one, and so I have made new garland for it.  I truly missed putting it out last year, but we had just moved in and unpacking kept us busy. I never had the time to make a new one.  This year I decided it would be my one new piece of fall decoration.  I found some smaller grapevine garland on ebay, then waited until Michael's had fall leaf garlands on sale for 50% off.  Then I picked up the gourds at Hobby Lobby once they started their 50% off fall decor sale. 

I kept the garland more simple this year.  I wrapped the grapevine in leaves, used raffia left over from my sister's wedding decorations, and secured it to the vine.  I then added pumpkins.  My Husband installed the hanging hooks on the front porch so I could hang our new fall garland.  He then asked if I was going to put garland around the door, unfortunately not this year, but maybe in the future.  My Husband loved the leaf colors I picked and really thought it complemented the color of our home.

Here is the new Garland:

With the porch complete I decided to re-purpose the old garland.  I stripped it down into individual pieces.  Next, I rummaged through more left over supplies from my sister's fall reception.  My Mom gave me

all the leftover stuff, or stuff that she didn't have a use for.   I added it to the grapevine garland (which I had to trim down a bit to fit my mantle).  I then added the new garland to my mantel and it looks wonderful.   I'm now in the mood for a romantic cuddle with my Honey next to the fireplace on a brisk fall evening. 

1st Day of Fall

I cannot believe that fall is already here.  The past 6 months, better yet the past year has flown by so quickly for me.  Fall makes me think of of the beautiful leaves that are starting to change.  It also made me think of the fun pillow case dresses I made for my girls a couple of years ago along with fall bows.  A friend of mine wanted to learn how to sew, and so we headed to the fabric store and picked up some fall fabric to make each of our girls (my 2 and her 2) some fall dresses.  I felt that the pillowcase dress would be a great 1st project.  It was so much fun to pick out the fabric for each of our girls and then to start the process of making them.  We talked and laughed had so much fun.  All 4 of the dresses turned out fabulous and my girls have been able to wear them each fall for the past 2 years.  Now that I have 3 girls and the oldest has outgrown her dress (luckily the 2nd oldest has grown into the 1st) I will have to make new dresses or skirts this year for my oldest and youngest and a matching tie for my little guy. Hopefully I can talk my friend into once again sewing some fun fall things together.

Triple Shabby White and Pink Headband

My Baby Girl has a shabby pink dress with a white eyelet sweater, so I wanted to make the perfect headband for it.  I tried making it with pink shabby flowers, but it seemed to much with the pink dress.  I then did a triple shabby grouping in white and then added a pink and white ribbon flower.  It was the perfect match.

$8

Shabby White Baby Headbands

Over a couple of months, I had a couple of friends having baby girls.  So I made some Shabby White Baby Headbands for their new baby's.  I find that White is always a good color to have (my girls have worn out many white bows).

Each Headband was made slightly different.  The Ribbon flowers were made with different size ribbons and the Rhinestone buttons are also different.

Emotions = Lots of Beautiful New Bows

Here are all the fun things I have been working on over the past week with many more in the works.

I find that at times I am an emotional Crafter.  When my emotions are high, I tend to make lots of over-the-top bows.  I also relieve stress by sewing, crocheting, and sometimes working on wood crafts.  Recently it has been bows and headbands and boy have I been making and working on lots of new ones.  My emotions have been running overboard the past few weeks and so I have been able to put it all into making lots of beautiful new things for my girls and others.

Watermelon Love

August always makes me think of watermelons.  I just love watermelon! There is just something refreshing about it, weather you are eating it, decorating with it or crafting with it.  The colors are some of my favorite combinations, red/green/white/black, pink/green/white or a variety of them all mixed together.  When I was in my teens, my Mom came across Watermelon Picnic items at Z.C.M.I.  She received the watermelon picnic basket for her birthday (which I believe she still has) and then later bought plates, cups and serving dishes.  Every time we BBQ'd (which was most of the summer) we would eat outside at the patio table and use the Watermelon dishes, it was so delightful.  When I got married and had a place of my own, I decorated my Kitchen in Watermelon decor.  My Kitchen is no longer decorated in Watermelon, although I still have the wall hangings and a couple of the canisters.  Maybe one day I will add just a little bit back in.  For now I enjoy dressing my girls in Watermelon prints, which Gymboree and Crazy 8 have had Watermelon lines for the past couple of years and I have been able to keep my girls well outfitted in watermelon.

Since my Baby Girl had a really cute Watermelon dress and being that I had just made a watermelon headband for my niece, I really wanted to make another one for my Baby Girl to match her dress.  Since the colors of her dress were slightly different then the original headband I made,I made a new one.  My Baby Girl loved her new headband and once I put it on her, she kept it on all day.  She really does have a preference on what she wears, so lucky for me, she loves watermelon too.

$10