HOMEMADE PICTURE FRAME FOR DOGS

My brother and sis-in-law have the most beautiful dogs.  They also have just about everything they need.  SO, it was an easy decision to create something for them for Christmas using pictures of their awesome dogs.  My hubby made the frame from leftover wood flooring.  He carved the bones on the frames using his band saw, chisel, sandpaper, and lots of patience.  The bones are mounted using short wood screws.  The frame is held together using wood glue.  He stained it walnut.

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.

LITTLE BITTY SHOULDER SHAWLS & LEG WARMERS - CROCHET

After I bought myself a warm shoulder shawl in Florence, Italy, I started looking around for them for my 14 month old daughter.  Well, I couldn't find any whatsoever, so I decided to crochet some for her.  Later I made this green one for my friend with ribbon woven into the top of it to make it adjustable, so it will last her a few more months as the baby grows.

Here they are - GO MAKE SOME!

LITTLE BITTY BALLET SLIPPERS - CROCHET

More fun with crochet.  I found these adorable ballet slippers on youtube made by The Jilted Ballerina.  There are 3 video tutorials for how to make them, so I just followed those
(I posted them below for you).
So far, I have made 4 pair - 1 for a friend whose baby girl is 3 mos old, 1 for the hubs' cousin whose baby girl is due in April 2012, 1 for our 14 month old princess, and 1 for our princess that is due in February 2012.  

Here are some pictures of them - GO MAKE SOME!

Here are the video tutorials on youtube:

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

MY 1ST NEWBORN CROCHET DRESS

Lately, I have been on a crochet marathon. 

 It all started with making the blanket for our new little princess that should arrive in February.  

I found this really adorable newborn dress with a FREE pattern and got to work.   

I am giving it to my hubby's cousin for her daughter due in April 2012.

 Go check it out here at One Hook Two Sticks.

Mine turned out like this: 

FRONT

BACK

5 FUN/FAST/FABULOUS IDEAS

A "Mumkin" - hollow out a pumpkin, put in a pretty plant (with the nursery pot or the pumpkin will rot), and tie a pretty ribbon around the plant.  Voila' 

from circadee.com

Salad placed in closed containers for outdoor party bug prevention.

from 4men1lady.com

Brownies or fudge in cookie cutters for cute holiday gifts.

Just bake/make/decorate and place in plastic bags.

Christmas shown here, but you could use cookie cutters of ANY holiday.

from tipjunkie.com

Get some chalkboard contact paper, place your food/drink, write your notes - cool party idea!

from rock-ur-party.tablespoon.com

What a neat idea to do with cheese cubes, cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs!

from cabotcheese.coop