HOMEMADE TV STAND - PART 2

Now the TV stand has doors.  YAY for extra storage to hide toys or stereo equipment!

The next part will be to add a bookcase/built-in on top that goes up the wall.

MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS - BUON NATALE!

Merry, Merry Christmas!  Buon Natale!

My sweet hubby decorated the tree this year.  All I had to do was the bow on top and the white ribbon.

I stole the idea of putting poinsettia trees around it from an image I saw on Google.

HOMEMADE TV STAND

My hubby started making the "built-ins" for our living room.  We have a huge fireplace in the middle of the wall that we wanted to use for the TV, so he got creative and started a massive project.  This is the first piece of it...it still needs doors and will have a top piece going up the wall above it.  We save a lot of money with his creations.

HOMEMADE KID SWING

The hubs put this together with a few pieces of wood and some bolts.

The kids love it!

SIMPLE PLATE DECOR PROJECT

PINTEREST inspired this project.  My mom has great handwriting, so I asked her to help.

Materials:  plates from Target, black Sharpie pen, nice handwriting, plate stand.

HANG UP KIDS ARTWORK IN PLAYROOM

Once again, YAY for PINTEREST!  This is another great idea stolen from someone very creative.

We used the word ARTE because my hubby is Italian and that is the Italian word for art.

Our girls bring home some beautiful art projects from school every day, so we needed a way to hang them up without crowding up the fridge.  The "JULIA" project is another idea you can see HERE.
 Materials used:  letters from Hobby Lobby, wood molding from Lowe's, stain, binder clips, and nails.

DO IT YOURSELF BAG/COAT RACK

This is one of the first PINTEREST projects my hubby completed.

I bought the knobs from Hobby Lobby and the piece of wood/molding from Lowe's.

The "FAMILY" sign I also found at Hobby Lobby and it is just sitting on top.

We use this to hang school bags, diaper bags, purses, computer bags, and even jackets sometimes.

KIDS HEIGHT MEASURING RULER

Got this idea from the Dear Lillie blog on a pin from PINTEREST!

Remember when your parents marked your height with a pencil on the wall of the laundry room?

This was really simple.  You just need a board, some stain, a silver paint pen, and some patience.
You can actually do whatever combination of colors that you wish.
Measure three times before hanging it on the wall, too.
We decided to hang ours 9 inches from the floor.
We love having this as a memoir instead of marking their heights on a wall.

ABC WALL IN KIDS PLAYROOM

Another great idea from PINTEREST!

Love this decoration for the playroom.

We bought the letters from Hobby Lobby.  A few of them were wooden, so we painted them different colors.  Then you just creatively hang them up with nails. EASY and FUN!

TODDLER FINGER PAINT ART

Got this idea from PINTEREST as well!

Julia loved making it and it is a beautiful piece of art hanging in the playroom.
Materials needed:
blank canvas from Hobby Lobby, tape off the name/word you want, finger paint, and your toddler.
After they paint, let it dry and peel off the tape - VOILA!

I cut a hole in the bottom of a garbage sack to use for clothing protection and put a few garbage sacks on the floor to protect the floor.

Here it is hanging up in the ART area of the playroom. 

HOMEMADE READING CENTER

Another great idea from PINTEREST!  

My hubby did a great job making a reading center in the playroom.

The kids love it and it is a great way to organize books.

HOMEMADE CURTAIN ROD & CURTAINS

I ran across an awesome idea for making a homemade curtain rod, thanks again to PINTEREST.

It gets really expensive to buy a curtain rod for a 9 ft by 9 ft window, so this was great!

Then it became so quick and easy, that I made more to cover the glass doors on the sides.

And then I made more to cover the big windows in the kitchen. 

I followed these instructions, but I bought the end knobs/caps from Hobby Lobby (about $2 a piece).

Also, instead of cutting the pipe with a tube cutter, one time I used a hack saw and other times my hubby used the metal grinder from his craftsman tool.  We also filed the end of the pipe, as it is very sharp when you cut it.  I bought the brackets and the curtain rings from Lowe's.  You can also find the curtain rings at Walmart or Target.  I bought the curtain material from Hobby Lobby, hemmed the curtains, and hung them on the curtain rings.  Fun and easy!  

YUMMY HUBBY DIP

This dip is my hubby's favorite!  It has 3 ingredients and takes very little time to make it.

Serve with chips, crackers, or bread.

Yummy Hubby Dip

Ground Turkey, Beef, or Chicken

Tomato Sauce or Petite Diced Tomatoes

Cream Cheese (I use the 50% less fat)

Brown/cook the meat in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the tomato sauce/diced tomatoes and simmer for at least 10 min.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Turn off heat and add cream cheese.

Mix well and serve with chips, crackers, or bread.

There are no measurements listed because you can make the dip how you wish - more meat makes it thicker, more tomato makes it thinner, more cheese makes it cheesier.  You decide...

HEADBAND MADE FROM T-SHIRT

I ran across this awesome idea for making a headband from t-shirt material on the make it love it blog.  I really liked the idea because there is no elastic as the t-shirt material is stretchy, so it is soft on baby/toddler's skin.   

Here is how mine turned out...

GO MAKE IT!

CROCHET TODDLER A-LINE SWEATER DRESS

I just finished this A-line sweater dress for my 15 month old daughter.  

I based it on this Cross Stitch Pullover tutorial from Bella Bambina Knits.  

It was a lot of fun to make!  I decided to leave the sleeves off and make it a "cap sleeve" kind of look after getting some input from the hubs when I tried it on my little one.  The details were also quite simple...I just sewed a star on the front and made a little flower for the bottom of the "V" opening at the back of the neckline.  I opted for this V opening instead of buttons.

GO MAKE IT! ;)

front

back

BABY TIGHTS FROM MOMMY'S SOCKS

I had a pair of socks that had holes in the toes, so I decided to use this tutorial from sew4bub.com to make tights for my daughter instead of throwing them away.  

There was a red seam at the toes area that wasn't ruined, so I used that to make the little bows that I attached.  Like the tutorial says, it really is very simple to make these.

MAKING NEUTRAL BABY CLOTHES FEMININE

Since being on my sewing frenzy, I decided to update some of our older daughter's newborn clothes that are neutral in color.  Just by adding a few bows and some lace/ruffles, it is easy to update clothes and make them look feminine.  It was fun!  Here are the results....

Sweatpants updated with bows and a lace heart on the butt...

Back

Front

Onesie with added ruffles and bows

CROCHETED RUFFLED BOTTOM SWEATER

I found this great pattern from Bella Bambina Knits to crochet a sweater with a ruffled bottom and ruffled sleeves look. 

 I made 2 of them...1 in 18 months size for our older daugher and 1 in newborn size for our daughter that should arrive in the next 2 weeks.

It was fun - GO MAKE IT!

Newborn Size

18 Months Size

BABY ROMPER FROM T-SHIRT

I have been on a sewing frenzy lately because I have enjoyed more time to sew due to the holidays and family taking turns playing with my 14 month old daughter.

  So, I decided to use this old bunny shirt of hers and attach some pants made from the hubs' t-shirt to make this romper for our new princess arriving in February 2012.  

Here are the pictures - GO MAKE IT!
FRONT

BACK

I traced the size of a pair of pants 0-3 months to get the correct size for the bottom of the romper.  

I followed some instructions from the butt ruffled onesie tutorial for making the ruffles and attached those.

Then, I just sewed it all together, inserted the snaps, and sewed a little bow at the waistline for extra "fashion."

  If you notice the grey cuffs on the shirt, I added those from this tutorial on converting a t-shirt to a onesie dress.  You can turn the cuffs over baby's hands to keep them warm and prevent them from scratching their face.

NEWBORN ONESIE DRESS FROM PARENTS T-SHIRTS

HAPPY 2012!!!
I found this awesome tutorial from This Mama Makes Stuff.  

I just had to try it out with some of our old t-shirts. 

 She gives you the pattern for FREE and the instructions are quite easy to follow.

Here is the tutorial link. - GO MAKE IT - IT IS FUN!

Here are some pictures of how mine turned out.
I added the heart with ruffle embellishment on my own from having read
this tutorial on making ruffled butt onesies.