{DIY} No-Sew "Ribbons and Bows" Holiday Shirt

So there's no better time to make holiday shirts for your kids, than the day of the party right?  Perhaps I'm the ultimate procrastinator, or perhaps I like to live life one day at a time, but I woke up this morning realizing the girls didn't have any cute party shirts to wear to Daddy's Work Christmas party....at 2:30...hmmmmm.... I always love the idea of embellishing t-shirts, but a really hate sewing anything onto jersey knit.  Even with stabilizer, I feel like it bunches up and starts to looks really funky.  BUT I didn't want to use glue either...so I fished around in my supplies and came up with some magical Stitch Witchery.  If you have any aversion to sewing, this product can be a lifesaver!  So here's my no-sew tutorial for the

Ribbons and Bows Holiday Shirt

Here's what you'll need:

Stitch Witchery
Iron

Various Ribbons

Scissorrs

A plain T-shirt or onesie (or both!)

Step 1:  Begin by tying your bows.  I used 3 on the shirt, and 2 on the onesie.  

Here's the best way to tie perfect little bows:

-Make two loops with about 2" of ribbon between them

-Cross one loop over the other

-Pull it through and tight

-Adjust the length and size of your bow

Step 2: Lay out the ribbon on your shirt.  Cut some pieces of Stitch Witchery to the length of your long ribbons. 

I then cut my S.W. (Stitch Witchery) in half, lengthwise because it was thicker than my ribbon.  You can of course buy S. W. that is the right size for your ribbon, but that would've made things way too easy ;)
Step 3:  Simply follow the directions on the S. W. box - fusing the ribbon to the shirt using the heat of the iron.  Tuck under the ends 1/4" before you press it down, so you won't have any raw edges showing. 

Then add a small piece of S.W. to at the bottom of the ribbon and cover it with a bow. 

Press again to fuse the bow to the shirt.  Continue this process until all of your ribbon is on the shirt.  Put a dab of Fraycheck or clear nail polish on the ends of your bows so they won't unravel.
(turn the shirt inside out when you wash it)
Enjoy your holiday season sporting these sweet little T's!!

Happy Crafting!!
xoxo
jessica

{DIY} Anthro Knock Off: Sweet Blossom Hairclip

With Valentine's Day right around the corner we needed a great big pink hair clip!

I headed to Anthropologie to see what I could find for inspiration, and I found this lovely hair clip, with the staggering price tag of $47.  

It's sooooo easy to make your own, and I had everything I needed so it cost me $0.

Here's the original:

 

Here's my knockoff:

I actually cut up an old silky scarf that had found it's way into Charlotte's dress up box.

It worked perfectly, and I think will become a little more frayed, like the original, as she wears it.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

Step 1 - Snip Snip: 

Cut 3 strips of material 2" x 20", and heat up your hot glue gun.

  Step 2 - Zig and Zag:

Set your zig zag stitch so that it is longer (more space in between each stitch), and zig zag one edge of each strip.  This is basically to keep it from fraying too much, but allowing it to fray a little.

Step 3 - Gather it up:

Now set your regular stitch to as long as it will go (mine's at setting 5) and sew along the other side.  Gather this edge.  Now you have kind of an old school scrunchie thing.

Repeat this process with the other two strips of fabric.

Step 4 - Fun with your glue gun

Begin gluing these strips onto the felt circle. 

Just start at one edge and glue it back and forth to make it look like a flower.

I used the hair clip to kind of poke it down in the center so I wouldn't burn my finger.

When you have glued all three, it should look like this:

You may need to keep gluing pieces down here and there until you are happy with the way it looks.

Lastly glue the hair clip onto the back of the felt circle and let it dry.

Clip your sweetie's hair back and give her a kiss!

have a great day!

xoxo

jessica

Inspiration Board: Charlotte's Three Year Old Room

In one attempt to distract myself from the craziness that is my life...I've started planning Charlotte's room for our home in Japan.  I want to be able to make everything now (curtains, pillows, quilt), so that when we get there, her room can be a happy cozy place in a short amount of time.  Plus it gives me something to do now :)  So here's my inspiration.  That fabric is Valori Wells Wrenly - it's so happy and I think it will transition well from 3 - 6 yrs old which will be her ages while we are in Japan.

The plan for the bed is from here.  Ryan is going to get it all cut out, and then we'll ship it Ikea-style and assemble it when we get there.  We already have that green chair, and I think a pillow out of that bird fabric will look adorable on it.  I bought a rug at Old Time Pottery for $50 that looks very similar to the one shown here.  It's very cheery and I like all the squares of color.  That lamp shade is from here.  I think I have to have it.  So there it is - what do you think?  Any suggestions?  I haven't done pink in her room yet so I kinda wanted the girly look. 
Hope you had a great weekend!
xoxo
jessica

The Hexie Hairclip - a tutorial

I just love all the hexagon quilts - they are so gorgeous and intricate.  For some reason at dinner last night the idea popped into my head to make a hexagon hair clip for Charlotte.  It took a little trial and error but here's what I came up with!

That is an orange and blue one for Charlotte to wear to Ryan's graduation.  Here's a pink one, because you know - we're girly.

Would you like to make one for the little girl(s) in your life?
Here's what you will need:
scraps of fabric
batting
sewing machine/coordinating thread
scissors/yardstick/water soluble pen

Step 1:  Cut out your hexagon template.  Mine was 1 1/4" wide.  Here's one for you to trace right off your computer screen..

Step 2:  Scrounge through your scraps until you find colors that make you happy.  Cut out 7 hexagons.

Move them around until you are happy with the arrangement.

Step 3:  Cut one square (it needs to be larger than the hexagon arrangement) of the backing fabric, and one square of batting the same size.  Layer them - beginning with the backing right side down, then the batting, then the hexagons - all but the middle one.

Step 4:  Using the zig-zag setting, stitch along the edges where the hexagons touch - sew through all three layers, hexagons, batting, and backing.s

 It will look like this:

Then lay the last hexagon on top, and zig zag around all 6 edges of this hexagon.  It should look like this:

 

and this (I made 3 clips - this one was the 3rd one and looks the best):

Step 5:  Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric - following the shape of your hexagon "flower".

Step 6:  Zig-zag around all the raw edges.

Step 7:  Last but not least - hot glue the clip to the back of the hexagons.  You can cover the clip in ribbon if you like. 

Ta-da!  A cute little accessory reminiscent of a well-loved quilt. 

Have a happy weekend everyone!
xoxo
jessica

Pretty Flower Easter Eggs - Pottery Barn Style

While shopping with Beverly, from Flamingo Toes, last week, I found some easter eggs at Pottery Barn covered in little hydrangea blossoms. (sadly I could not find a picture online of the inspiration eggs, so you'll just have to take my word for it)  I love hydrangeas, in fact they are my favorite flower. 
We had them at our wedding in our bouquets, on the cake, and on the tables.

 

My great-grandmother used to grow huge bushes of hydrangeas, and my mom and dad have one of the plants transplanted from her old home. So, I'm really happy that they seem to be "in" right now.  I'm not really sure the silk flowers I used are actually hydrangeas, but they looked close enough and were only $1 for a bunch of 3 at Michaels.  The eggs at Pottery Barn were $6.00 each, making the cost for 6 eggs, $36.00.  I spent $10.39 on the supplies to make my own.  Here's how you can make some for your home!

Supplies:

6 paper mache eggs (I got mine at Michaels for $2.50 

- I thought they would withstand the hot glue better than plastic ones)

ribbon

silk hydrangea flowers ( I bought 2 bunches of each color, $1 a bunch)

hot glue/glue gun

scissors

Step 1:  Heat up your glue gun and snip all of the blossoms off the stems.

Separate them by color,

then by size.

Step 2:  Cut 6 pieces of ribbon about 6" long.  Put a dab of hot glue on the top of an egg.  Gently press one end of the ribbon in the glue.  Loop the ribbon around and glue it to the secured end.  Now you have a pretty little loop to hang your eggs.  

Step 3:  Begin gluing the blooms on.  Start with the large blooms.  Just experiment with the gluing method - I got better as I went along.  You might have to put a dab of glue in the center of the flower first - stick it on - then add some glue to the petals.  They don't have to lay flat - in fact it's better if they don't - but you don't want them sticking out in every direction either.

Step 4:  Once you have a nice coverage from the large blooms, begin filling in the spaces with the medium and small sized blooms.  Just keep going until you can't see any of the original egg.  

Then you're finished!  Hang in a lovely spot or on some branches in a vase.

Happy gluing and have a great weekend,

jessica