Recycled T-shirt --> toddler pants/capris

I like the idea of turning t-shirts into other clothes . . .

I've done this once before where I took a t-shirt and cut it up to make a ruffled cardigan/short jacket for my niece. It was hard to do since it was for a kid, but I think the task would be easier on adult sized clothes. Here's my finished jacket and here's the link to the tutorial from CraftStylish. It's hard to get the idea from my pic, so check out the link to see a better picture from CraftStylish!

Toddler pants:

I got this idea from Ashley on Lil Blue Boo's blog and fell in love with it. The full length pants would work for my son, but I love the idea of the cropped length for goucho pants for a little girl. The t-shirt I used was from the teenager's Junior size, so I was limited by length to make full length pants for my son (I made the 6-12 month size). So this will one day be for a daughter I may have.

I don't know if my son is built different than most, but once I was done, the pants were quite low-rise on him - or he just had a very full diaper and that was making the pants lower than were meant to be :) So when I make these again, I will probably add an inch or so to the top measurement to make sure my son doesn't dress immodestly :)

The shirt had a "Hershey's" logo on it, so I cut that off the shirt and applique'd that to the leg.

Luckily, I have a full box of t-shirts I had in HS or college that would be great for an idea like this - Slinky, Sesame Street, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, and several others. And I just may steal my husband's Transformer shirt to make my son something soon - but he still wears that shirt. . . I wonder how long it will take him to realize it's missing and my son has something that looks like the same shirt :)

Next, I'm going to try the skirt that Ashley has a post on as well . . .

I was featured!

I was featured on "U Create" today!!! The post was about the pillowcase dresses. I love U Create - go check out her blog. . . UCreate

THE "Crop-A-Dile"

The craft I made during nap time today is drying and should be ready to finish and photograph for tomorrow . . .

So I wanted to introduce you to my one of my favorite crafting accessories . . . .

The Crop-A-Dile!!!

My Mother-in-law bought this for me as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I had never heard of it before. But I LOVE it. You can find it at Jo-Anns or Michaels stores . . . but I suggest waiting till you have a 40% off coupon since these are about 30 dollars. They have the tool by itself or you can buy a green one that comes with eyelets and other accessories. There's even one called the "Big Bite," but I haven't ventured that far yet.

You can use this amazing tool to punch holes (on the sides of the tool). It has a sliding place marker so that you can rest your paper or fabric on the bar while punching and this way you can make punches at the same distance in from the edge of the paper if you're doing multiples.

At the top, it has different settings for different size eyelets so that you can attach them to the paper. When I was growing up, my mom had a tool set that would set eyelets, but you had to have a hammer and a tool to hold it in place. I always hated it cause sometimes it would squish the eyelet or scrape the color off the metal.

It even has a setting to put in snaps!

Here are a few pics of things I've done with the Crop-A-Dile:

• I've punched a hole in the center of a paper flower to put an eyelet in so it looks better
• I've used eyelets to make an envelope in my scrapbook to hold pieces of paper. The eyelets are holding the velum on so I didn't have to glue it
• I used it to add detail on strips of paper in my scrapbook

Ribbon Wrapped Candle

I personally don't like the look of plain pillar candles, but I didn't want it to look too busy. This decoration is great to display, but when you want to use the candle or change decorations, they are easy to remove since they're not permanent.

1. Take a plain white candle and measure the circumference, adding a couple inches for the tails on the end

2. Cut that length out of 4 matching ribbons (or however many you want on your candle)
3. Use a tiny hole puncher (or exacto knife), to make the hole so the brads easily go through the ribbon.

4. Then insert the brad through the hole. I used one of the brad legs on the back to position it tight against the candle so the ribbon doesn't slip.

**Warning, it's hard to make that hole in the ribbon with the ribbon wrapped around the candle since the hole punch can't get as close to the candle as you need. So wrap the ribbon around the candle and then mark where you want the hole with a pen on both sides of the ribbon end. Then take the ribbon off and punch the hole through both ends.**

I do have to tighten the brads every 6 months or so when they start to loosen. But you could eliminate that problem by using glue or an adhesive to keep the ribbon in place and just use the brad as decoration.

Tip on ribbon selection: Since the back side of the ribbon shows when you fan out the tails by the brad, you may not want ribbon that is plain white on the back. I picked ribbon that had the design on both sides or if it was solid, I just made sure it looked nice on the back too.
These are really fast and easy to make and they make great presents. I made a bunch for family members for Christmas using ribbon that would match each of their homes.

~ Serena

Toddler Hair Clips

I don't have a little girl yet, so I'm making these in a hopeful effort :). If not for me, then 2 of my sister-in-laws are pregnant and due the same month I am, so chance are 1 of us will have a girl.

I bought a big box of the 2 pronged alligator clips and fixed them up to be a lot cuter. I'm still working on more embelishments and trying to finish a 4th of July set as well. These will hopefully be one of the first things I try to sell on Etsy or another way. I love making them and the possibilities are endless with ribbons and embelishments.

I just can't go too crazy making a ton of them yet or my husband will think I'm jinxing things and will have another boy instead of girl.

Pillowcase Dress

I fell in love with these dresses when I saw an adorable little 1 year-old wearing one at church. As of now, I don't have a daughter, but I'm pregnant and due in December (and crossing my fingers for a girl). I have a 1 son, but crafts and sewing projects tend to center around girls. So for now, I've had to settle for making things for my sister's girls.

Tutorial:

**You can actually use a pillowcase and just alter the neckline and arm holes if you want, but I made mine from scratch.

1. Measure your child from the shoulder to where you want the hem to rest (and then add 3 inches to allow for seams) to get your total length. Or you can use these generic lengths as well.

• 6 month - 14.5" long
• 12 months - 16.5" long
• 18 months - 17.5" long
• 2T - 18 .5" long
• 3T - 19.5" long
• 4T - 20.5" long
• 5 - 21.5" long
• 6 - 22.5" long

2. Cut your fabrich to the desired length and width (below are approximate widths with your fabric folded in half width wise). The total width would be doubled if you don't fold the fabric in half.

• 6-18 months - 15" wide
• 2T-4T - 16-20" wide
• 5-6 - 21-24" wide

3. Sew the side seam and then iron the seam open.

4. Cut armholes. By folding the dress in half, you can line up both arm corners so you can cut them at the same time, making them identical. You'll want to cut a "J" shape out of the corner. Below is a picture of the piece I cut out. For reference, you can use these approx. measurements:

• 6 month - 2T - cut down 3" from the top and in 1.5" from the side
• 3T-4T - cut down 4" from the top and in 2" from the side
• 4 and 5 - cut down 5 or 6" from the top and in 2" from the side
• 6 - cut down 7 or 8" from the top and in 2" from the side
  

5. You have 2 options for finishing the edges around the arm holes:

• sew bias tape around the edge
• fold in 1/4"and iron flat and then fold another 1/4" in and iron then sew (i used thise option - folding in twice makes it so that you don't have any raw edges)

6. Fold the top (neckline) in approx. 1" and sew.

7. Cut ribbon into 2 pieces of equal length (1 yard each) and thread it through the neck line. Your ribbon may be too long on the smaller sizes after you tie it on their shoulders, but I would wait to cut it until you try it on your child to know where you want the length to be. I also used Fray-Check on the edges of the ribbon so they won't fray in the wash or by wearing it.

8. Fold the bottom in 3" and hem. You can add ribbon or ric-rac to the seam line like I did if you want some embelishment. I also added some contrasting fabric at the bottom too.

Wooden Winter Decor

I know it's not winter or even close to Christmas yet, but I like making Christmas time crafts randomly throughout the year or whenever I get the idea.

I bought these wooden letters at Jo-Anns and used my favorite craft accessory . . . mod podge . . . to apply the scrapbook paper to the fronts.

After they are dry enought that the paper doesn't slide around on the letter, use sandpaper to scuff and antique the edges of the paper. Once you're satisified with the look, paint a coat of modpodge on top of the letters to seal the paper.

Once it's all dry, add embellishments. I used fake snow, wooden snowflakes and ribbon.

I've also done words like this for Halloween and Easter so far. I love to put them on my fireplace mantle (or somewhere higher up so that my toddler can't pull them down to chew on them).

Cookie Jar

I made this cookie jar for my mother-in-law. I bought this jar at Wal-Mart and thought it looked like a good cookie jar. Every Grandma should have a cookie jar and I wanted to give it a modern look.

They had just remodeled their kitchen, and they got beautiful stainless steel appliances, so I liked that the lid was stainless steel to match. ** On a side note, my husband remodeled their kitchen (he has his own cabinet business http://www.pacificcustomcabinets.com/).

I used my Cricut to cut the vinyl, and then I used glass etching solution to give the bottom a frosted look.