{DIY} Mickey Mouse Boy's Shirt

My little nephew just turned 2....time to celebrate!  My sister-in-law Brooke (who is the queen of all party throwers)picked a Mickey mouse themed Birthday Party.  Um...so cute. He loved it. She had this awesome idea for a lil' old man shirt--Mickey Mouse style. She saw it somewhere online and so we set out to recreate the perfect shirt for the perfect party.

Isn't he theee cutest thing you've ever seen?

Supplies:
1 white shirt
1/8 yard red material
1/8 yard black felt material
Red thread
Black thread
White thread
Polka dot ribbon (mine was 1")
2 Metal or plastic belt holders

Tips:
I didn't need the whole 1/8 yard of fabric but it is nice to have just in case I messed up
Try not to get the shiny ribbon, it is harder to sew

Step 1: Pin ribbon onto shirt and then sew.  I stopped 3/4 of the way up the shirt and added a metal belt holder to make it look more like suspenders

Step 2:  Fold tie material in half, inside out.  Draw your own pattern for the bottom part of the tie, and cut 2cm around it. Then sew all sides down the line except the top part.  Cut excess material if needed and turn the tie right side out.

Step 3:  Again fold tie material in half, inside out.  Draw a half moon, and cut 2cm around it.  This is the upper part of the tie.  Sew the curved part together, cut excess material, and turn right side out.

Step 4:   Cut a number 2 out of black felt, and use fabric glue to paste it on, or if you are feeling super adventurous, you can sew the number 2 on the fabric before you actually sew the tie together (before step 2).  Mine was sewn.

Step 5:  Undo the seam in the the front of the child's shirt just enough to fit the straight edge of the top of the tie, insert the top of the tie, pin, then sew seam back together.

Final step!  If you want to hand sew the whole tie, awesome.  I like the tie hanging naturally so it looks like a real one, so I put the bottom of tie under the top and then sewed the top part down.

You are now done.

Feel free to comment and ask questions.  It was one of those projects where I wish I had taken more pictures of the creation...oopsie!  But I hope you enjoy!

{DIY} Casual Princess

I have the cutest niece named Shay.  She is the princiest princess if you ever saw one.  Everyday she has a ritual of changing into every princess costume she owns.  This ritual usually ends up in tears when mom says "We have to go!"  As almost all four year old girls, being a princess is a high priority, and changing out of the royal princess attire is heartbreaking.

Naturally what did Princess Shay want for her 4 year old birthday?  Uh....Princess dresses, duh.   So of course I explored Pinterest to see what I could do.

This lady had the BEST idea EVER.  She took everyday clothes, added a little pizzaz, and whaaalaa!   She created "Casual Fridays: Princess Style"

This is Shay modeling the new "Casual Rapunzel" look:

I found a light purplish pink shirt with ruffles and purple leggings at Walmart(all together $12), then I bought thread and fancy ribbon($6).    I undid the seams just enough, put in the ends of the ribbon in the neck and sleeves,and then sowed it back up.

Not a bad $20 gift especially for a princess in training!  

For more Casual Princess ideas, this is the blog:
http://www.crafterhoursblog.com/2012/11/casual-fridays-princess-style.html

Chevron Wall Tutorial

I am obsessed with the chevron pattern...which is okay because it seems the rest of the DIY-er population is too. My latest adventure was painting the spare bedroom.....which one day will be our kiddies room. I read so many DIY blogs and watched on painting a perfect chevron on my wall. Oh my goodness. All of the blogs/tutorials recommend drawing a grid on your wall. I realized if I wanted to spend the rest of my life painting one wall then I should follow their advice. So I created my own perfect chevron plan.

It's been thought of before and certainly isn't rocket science, but it made my life so much easier! I created a template for one chevron:
Um yeah.....it's out of my random pile of scrapbook paper.














Here are the measurements:
7 in high
9 in long
up 3 in from the bottom





I started by marking down every 7 inches on one side of the wall with a 12 inch ruler then I traced my template on the wall with a pencil.

I would also measure the wall after I traced it just to make sure it was aligned right

Ta Da!  I love my Chevron wall!