Saving Bambi

A couple weeks ago when we went on our staycation we went to Buffalo Exchange with my Mom and Hubby. Yes, yes I know...I told you though I'm addicted! I cannot drive past a Buffalo without running in and taking a quick look just to make sure I'm not missing out on something amazing. Anyway, my Mom grabbed this Bambi shirt and held it up to see what I thought. I didn't realize she was thinking for herself. It was on the sale rack for $2! So I said, "Oh, that would make a cute dress for Hailey!" To which Hailey quickly chimed in, "Yeah Grandma I really like! Can I get it?" And here we are!

You don't need anything for this project other than the shirt and the matching thread!

First deconstruction. Lay your shirt out and cut down the inside of the armpit seams and down the sides. Set your scraps aside and save them for later.

We need to make the neckline a bit smaller. So we'll cut across the shoulder seam. Then pull the front of the shirt up (or back of the shirt down) so that that seems around the collar match up. Take it up or down as much as you need. Pin and stitch. I double stitched instead of surging through this project because it is NOT fun to serge knit!

Now flip this little apron thing over your babe and mark where it hits the edge of her shoulder. I just used my scissors and snipped it because Hailey gets kind of scared when I start pinning. Lets just say she's been pricked a couple times when taking the garment off. Woops!

Now use this measurement as a guideline and snip around the armpit. you can measure and mark but I just eyeballed it.

So we will now re-attach the sleeves. Go back to those scraps you cut before and carefully remove the sleeve by cutting the seam off of it. Making sure to cut just inside of the seam, you dont want to take alot off at all. Then fold in half to find the middle and match the middle up with the top shoulder seam. Start in the middle and pin down each side matching the edge up. Make sure you have right sides together. Finally stitch them down again starting at the middle and working your way down each side.

Now grab a shirt that fits your child and use it as a guideline match it up to the one you just stitched in place. Mark it either with a disappearing ink pen or a regular old pencil (it'll wash out, promise).

Then draw a line down to the bottom of the shirt. I just wanted to do an A-line dress but if you wanted it to be more fitted you definitely could make it as fitted as you like! Pin in place and stitch. At this point I trimmed the selvage and snipped the armpits so that they would turn out nicely. My bottom hem didn't match up for whatever reason (I think probably because I messed with the neckline?) so I cut it off and folded a bit under. Then double stitched it in place with a light purple thread that went well with the flowers on the shirt.

Finally I added some decorative stitching to the sleeves and neckline. But this is totally optional. I think it funked it up a bit which I really love on my little pumpkin!

Pop it on your patiently waiting little girl and go play!

Perfect for dancing with your sissy!

And loving on her...even if she has CRAZY hair!
This whole thing took about an hour to do. Perfect for a naptime craft!

Love and Hugs,

White Elephant Wednesday Volume IIII

So this week I did not venture out of the norm and just went to The White Elephant. And man did I get a haul! WOW! Seriously I will never try a new thrift store...well unless I am in a different city like say Phoenix! I'm sure they've got some good ones up there.

I wanted to give you all some background on The White Elephant and why it may possibly be the best thrift store ever. And maybe give you some pointers in finding your favorite thrift store.

The White Elephant is located in a town called Green Valley, Arizona. It is just south of Sahuarita which is just south of Tucson. It is a middle to upper middle class area of retirees (mostly). It is run by all volunteers (except the manager I think?) and they are incredibly sweet! I've heard from several people that a lot of the residents of Green Valley will all of their belongings  to this thrift shop because it is such a big part of the community. SO they get a lot of really old stuff. Hence the reason there are so many good vintage finds! The best part though? They don't price like an antique store, they price like a garage sale or flea market. So you find a lot of the same things I found last week in the antique stores for a fraction of the cost!

This last time I went they had a really really cool old crib that would be amazing if you sanded all of the lead paint off of it and refinished it! They also had some really great vintage baby gowns and baptism gowns. I wanted to pick them up but they were tiny! And I didn't really know what I'd do with them so I passed them up. But they've got everything from kitchen sinks and toilets (literally), to wood, clothes, toys, antiques, bedding, notions, fabric, and much more! If you ever make it to Tucson you gotta stop by the White Elephant.

So here is what I got this time.

Random vintage notions. A zipper, ribbons, buttons to cover, and a belt buckle kit.

All laying on a quilt that I'm sure someone spent a lot of time working on! It said "crib size" but it is perfect for a little blankie to snuggle up on the couch with when (if it ever) gets cold here?!

These adorable little fire engine red ballet flats that I'm sure were never worn! No scuff marks on the bottoms or wear marks inside. I may change out the flower but I REALLY like the color they are!

Another popcorn bucket to store my Korean red pepper in. I'll spray paint this one too a fun color maybe red because it will store red pepper?! And a frog prince bag thingy that I thought would be a good prop if I ever made a Princess Tiana dress (that some little person has been asking for! Like I dont have enough on my plate at the moment?)

Finally the game operation with ALL of it's pieces amazingly. And some random books I let the girls get to keep them busy through the store. The Elfabet book looks really cute and Hailey is working on her letters so it is perfect. Belle picked the other two. The Mother Goose one is a pop up book and the little one is a Precious Moments Christmas book.

All in all I only spent $12.10. And we had a fun morning. This was the first time Hailey had ever been with us. She is usually in school when I go. She really does share my same love for hunting and thrifting! She kept saying, "lets go see what they have over here..." Then she'd pick something totally random up and say, "OH! I've always wanted one of these!" I think she said that about 50 times no joke! Belle on the other hand just grabs things and puts them in the stroller!

SO! Go look for a thrift store in a middle to upper middle class retirement area... and I'm sure you will find some really cool stuff!

Love and Hugs,

White Elephant Wednesday Volume III, er Craigslist Sunday?

I thought this week I'd try to go to a different thrift store. Why? Why? Would I want to tempt my fate and try something new? Really I dont know! I checked a goodwill...nothing. I checked savers...nothing. I even ventured out and stopped by 3 antique stores. And my conclusion. I need to stick to The White Elephant! The antique stores were outrageously over priced and those other thrift stores were filled with nonsense. I dunno maybe it is because I am used to getting things at garage sale prices $25 for a broken kids rocking chair just doesn't fly for this frugal Momma!

For whatever reason I couldn't get The White Elephant this week. You see they are only open from 9-12 Monday thru Saturday. Of course the only time I could go was at 2pm on Sunday! HA!

So I ventured to craigslist. There is always something good on craigslist and there are few things on my list that I have been stalking craigslist for.

Here she is in her new home, right in the entry way!
Centered below the beautiful candles my BIL/SIL got us for Christmas :)

SCORE! There was a 1930s steamer trunk on there for $50! YEAH! Those things sell for $200-$400 all the time on there. And the icing on the cake? It is from Saks 5th Avenue!

I swung by and picked it up on my way to Lee Lee Asian market and it is in mint condition on the inside. Maybe a little dusty but other than that perfect! The other side opens up and you can hang your clothes up there. It has 3 wooden shirt hangers and 1 pant hanger. I don't know why I forgot to photograph that park but she is now sitting on that side and I'm not strong enough to flip her over and take pics myself!

The outside definitely needs some love and attention. There is rust on most metal pieces and the leather definitely needs some polishing. But I will give that sweet baby all she needs! I'm kind of torn on how much I want to clean it up. I vacuumed all of the dust and stuff off of it (the people who had it kept it outside, how sad) and wiped it all down with a damp cloth. You can tell the leather used to be brown but is now an olive drab sort of color. I think the leather definitely needs some love but I kind of like the rusty, worn look on most of the hardware.

She was made by Hartmann right around the turn of the century so as early as 1910! But the gentleman who sold her to me said she had been in the family since the 1930s. Hartmann made it exclusively for Saks Fifth Avenue. Kind of cool!

It is what they refer to as a turntable wardrobe steamer trunk. So on one side you have this wonderful logo. Not sure what ABD means?

And on the other side you have the turntable. You would keep it in your room on a ship or train with the  turntable to the ground and then you could spin it around to whichever side you needed to get into!

Did I mention she is really really heavy!? She's gotta be at least 200 pounds. How did people travel with those things? It doesn't even have wheels...did they have dolly's back then? 'Cuz the poor guy I got it from did not :(

Love and Hugs,

Spooooky Wreath

It is starting to feel a bit cooler outside if only at night. Which means time to decorate for Halloween! I saw this wreath somewhere in blogland about this time last year but didn't have time to make it. So it was top on my list for decorations this year!

Materials:
wreath form either styrofoam or wood chip
1 or 2 black boas (depending on how big your wreath is)
LOTS of hot glue
Optional- little black spider, glitter, and spray adhesive (or modge podge)

I used this wreath form that I thrifted for $1!

Grab a black boa or two at JoAnn's or Michaels and definitely use your coupon. Those suckers are expensive ($12/each, yikes)! I think with my coupon they came out to $6/each, thats better.

Start with a big glob of hot glue on the inner circle of your wreath form and glue down the end of the boa. Work your way around the inside glueing all along the way.

Continue wrapping and glueing until you get to where you started then step up a level and work on the top or middle portion of your wreath. Finally when you finish going around that go around the outer edge of your wreath. Never cutting the boa when you step up to the next round because it will look like you killed a black bird in your living room...trust me!

I hung mine with 5" wide black lace and tied a bow in it. You can't really tell it is there in the pictures but it looks really pretty.

Here is a close up of the bow.

Fun, right?

But...it needs something more so I grabbed a plastic spider sprayed it with some multi purpose spray adhesive, glittered it up and attached it with hot glue! That's better gives it a little pop.

I left this one on the inside of the house, using a double wreath hook hanger. I've got another door hanger in the works that will go on the outside. This also minimizes the probability that a REAL spider make it's home inside my feathers. Yuck!

If you used a smaller wreath form you could get away with using only 1 boa. But I like big wreaths, I think they make such a statement. Also don't try to wrap the boa all the way around the wreath it will use significantly more boa and no one sees the back anyway!

I hope you try it! This seriously took me all of 15 minutes. It took me longer to tie a pretty bow than to get the actual wreath made.

Love and Hugs,

P.S. I had to look out the peep hole today and it was kinda funny to have to push the feathers out of my face so that I could see out of it! Ha! I got a kick out of it and so did Hailey! Hailey also pointed out to me that my "spider" is really an ant! I took a closer look at it and it really is...but Hailey likes to hide it under my sheets before I got to bed so I'm glad it is tacked down to something other than my bed!

Halloween Costumes

Have you guys started thinking about Halloween. It is a bit over a month away and I JUST started ordering fabric and what not. I'm not gunna lie the planner in me is kind of freaking out right now. Especially because Hailey wants to be the Queen of Hearts for Halloween. You know from Alice in Wonderland. She graciously said Bellie could be Alice. So the Queen of Hearts not too bad right? NO! I was googling "free patterns" just to get an idea of what I was going to be up against and stumbled upon a post from the Oh SOOOO Talented Kathleen over at Grosgrain from last year.

photo courtesy Grosgrain

Hailey wants this costume! She wants it baaad. She even saw the "simple" version of the Queen of Hearts pattern and told me it was too plain! Ha! Such a little fashionista at 4. Goodness gracious! She talks about who is going to be what and has decided for everyone (except me). She has even tried to include her friends to make sure she has the whole Alice in Wonderland movie completely covered! Bailey (the dog) will be the cheshire cat. Bobby has agreed to be the Mad Hatter (not even going to attempt this one, we'll purchase this costume) and I go back and forth between the March Hare and the White Rabbit. Of course a girlie version of either. What do you guys think? March Hare or White Rabbit?

I'll have to make it or find pieces for it. So it might just come down to nothing for Momma but we'll see. Hopefully we can get the whole family in on this one!

Did I mention there will be pettiskirts under both little girls dresses? That is what I'll be starting hopefully this weekend. Because let me tell ya those adorable little skirts are time consuming! I may have a slight case of pettiskirt amnesia as my good friend Tara was reminding me that I swore I'd never make another pettiskirt after I made 2 last year right around this time.

So what are your plans for Halloween?

Love and Hugs,

A lazy day...

Today feels like a lazy day.

Hailey is getting over a cold and is still kind of stuffy not moving at her typical high speed craziness.

Belle has an ear infection and is awfully sluggish. She actually fell asleep on the couch watching 101 Dalmatians. Which for this child is absurd! I'm taking full advantage of this snugly little 2 year old. For now I'm going to go comfort my babes and get some cuddling time in while I can.  I'll post something fun and exciting tomorrow.

Pinky swear!

Love and Hugs,

Guest Post @ Sewing In No Mans Land

Remember Tuesday when I told you about that little guest post I was doing? You can check it out here. I gave the men's dress shirt refashion a little twist. While you'll probably need a bit more supplies you still need very little extras to make this amazingly cute little dress!

Head on over to Sewing in No Mans Land to check out the full tutorial AND for the first time ever on The P & The P,  pattern pieces!

Thanks Kelly so much for having me and for all of your help as I fumbled my way through the process!

Love and Hugs,

Staycation! :)

Last Wednesday we took a lil trip up to Phoenix (about a 2 hour drive) for a "staycation". Well, I suppose technically we went on vacation since we went to a different city. But I am from Phoenix and the hubby went to college there so for us it felt more like going home so we called it a staycation! I had TONS of stuff planned but when you are traveling with a 2 year old and 4 year old not everything stays on schedule. Which I have to admit is kind of hard for me sometimes...You know being the planner that I am! In the end we got to spend good quality time as a family and for that I am thankful!

So I'll give you some highlights on the stuff we did accomplish. Wednesday was kind of a loss we chalked it up to a travel day even though it isn't all that long of a drive. Do you know how hard it is to pack everyone up and get everyone on the road! Seriously it was a little rough!

Thursday we met my Mom for pedicures first thing in the morning. Grabbed some lunch for everyone on the way back to the hotel and headed out for a tour of Cerreta Candy Company!

Seriously I was SO excited. I grew up eating Cerretas and have very fond memories of going to my Grandma's house and eating Cerretas with her. She always had a little bowl of them ready! When I was pregnant my Mom would bring down a bag each visit from Phoenix because it was probably my biggest craving. But I scheduled the tour for the girls, right? Of course they'd have fun. Who am I kidding! I was more excited than they were!

We had a little tour which was the perfect length for a 2 and 4 year old. About 20 minutes! They gave us a bunch of samples and when we were done learning about the candy making the girls got to make chocolate pizzas!

Belle preferred the dump the cup method!

Hailey delicately sprinkled a few of each item on her pizza!

Followed up by a dumping drizzle of warm white chocolate.

And a good stir!

It's heavy!

When they were done with their pizzas we shopped their retail store and picked out all of our favorites.

Friday, we were headed to the Phoenix Children's Museum which is AMAZING! They have this massive 3 story high climbing structure on the main floor followed by two more floors of excitement and fun.

Reading labels....

I think Belle is going to make pasta for dinner!

Apparently we are having salad pizza?! ok...

The girls especially loved the grocery store and the pizza making shop. Bobby and I liked the climbing structure the best but the babes were a little unsure about being up so high.

And since the adults were not allowed to carry children through it we only got up to about the first story to hang out in a floating bathtub with wings!

Hailey was quick... I got about 10 of these shots! 

They also had a fun noodle forest which really is an ingenious idea! Thousands of noodles suspended and hung from the ceiling, huh? Go figure! It was so much fun to chase the girls through there! We spent a good 3 hours at the museum but could have easily spent all day in there!

We spent most afternoons at the pool and ate some really great food. Makes me kind of miss living in such an amazing city. Finally on Saturday we drove home.

SOOO...tomorrow no White Elephant Wednesday. I'm really excited about doing a guest post for Kelly at Sewing in No Mans Land! So, you'll have to come back and check it out!

Love and Hugs,