Lace Flower Headband

I love finding things out in stores and then saying "I can make that". I also love all the fun headbands that are 'In' right now. I have actually broke down and bought several of my favorite ones from the stores without trying to make them myself. This one I made is SOOOOO simple. I actually found spools of wide lace in those bargain bins at Joann's months ago. For $2.50 each I bought a white one and a antique-y dirty white looking one I think I have made four of these so far and I still have a bunch of lace left.

 I started by cutting two circles of  felt (I used black) to my desired size (they should be the same size) and then used my glue gun to attach the lace. I started on the outer edge and worked my way in. Once the circle was filled in with lace I cut the lace off the spool and folded the end in on itself and glued it down in the middle of the flower. I added a pearl in the center of mine but I did three pearls in the center of another one and I loved the way that looked too. Then I attached it to the headband. Mine is one of those thin stretchy ones that go all the way around your head. I glued the flower to the headband and then glued the other circle of felt to the backside of the flower. I sandwiched the headband between the two cirlces, to make it make more sense. I love how I can wear this with jeans everday or when I get all dressed up.

Frilly Apron

My BFF's bridal shower was this past Saturday. I ended up buying her the bakeware she registered for. I have the same exact set and it comes packaged in the plastic cake carrier as a plus. I also bought enough fun sprinkles and pretty cupcake wrappers to fill a shoebox. I know she loves to bake and get creative with it so I figured it was a perfect gift. I really like to either make gifts or at least make a part of them myself. With this gift I figured an apron would be perfect. I wanted it to be really girly. I had seen some retro looking ones that were very feminine looking and fun but were a lot of $$$ for something you wear with the purpose of gettng it dirty. I had all of the material leftover from other projects so this didn't even cost me anything. I don't know how long it took me either since I worked on it here and there for a few days.

I made it all by guessing too! I didn't use a pattern but rather made my own. I measured and cut pieces out of newspaper to see how they would look on a person and with each other then trimmed or added on. My BFF is very petite. I mean super skinny and shorter than me...I'm 5'4". If she weighs 100 pounds soaking wet I would be surprised! So, I was able to make this one to fit her frame better.

I used velcro on the neck strap so she has a lot of room to adjust. The ruffles are just 3 inch scraps that I ironed in half and then sewed a straightstich down the middle. I carefully ruffled them by pulling the end threads and then attached them to the top. I did this step last.

She seemed to get a kick out of it and even tried it on at the shower after she opened it. I of course forgot my camera so there are no pictures of it on a person and these are the best I could come up with before I wrapped it!

More Easter Decor

I finally found some spare time and crafted a few more things for Easter. Our house looks so festive and  spring-y now :) If only the weather on the outside would cooperate now.

I never host Easter dinner or brunch or anything. I never usually get to host any holidays really since my mom and sister 'claimed' them years before I had a house of my own. I'm not complaining though. I've hosted Thanksgiving ONE time and I don't ever need to do anything like that ever again. Still, I like to have festive touches here and there and especially on my dinin room table. I saw a picture of this online or in a magazine-somewhere. I did not come up with this all on my own. I've had this glass cube for ages and I love the versatility of it. I got the candy at Dollar Tree. One bag of jelly beans and two packs of Peeps (8 in a pack) and then added some of the million plastic eggs I had. I want to put real flowers in the middle but haven't gotten any yet so I stuck some silk ones in there. I like it :)

 This guy finally has some company...

I made the cloche from a covered cheese plate I foud at SA for $2 and glued it to a wooden candlestick also found at SA for $1. Glued them together and sprayed them...$3 of cuteness! I didn't make this one specifically for Easter. I'll keep it out in my kitchen all the time and just change up what's inside. It's the second one I've made for my house and I may be obessed with this one now...

I also made that nest in there. I bought two different kinds of moss at Dollar Tree and a three pack of small glass bowl as well. I covered the outside of one of the bowls with spray adhesive and stuck one kind of moss all over it. WARNING...this is SO messy! After it dried completely I flipped it right side up and sprayed the inside and stuck the other kind of moss on the inside. Again, $3 of cuteness! Not even since I didn't use all $3 worth of supplies! I removed the dowels from my last two egg picks and put them in there for now. I think I may keep this out after Easter and replace the Easter eggs with ones that look like true bird eggs.

Now we just wait for the Easter Bunny!

Dresses for Little Girls :)

I found this tutorial a while ago and saved it and couldn't wait for the time and occasion to make it. My sister asked me to make two coordinating dresses for my nieces so they could wear them for their pictures this summer. They wore them for a birthday party today and NOONE could believe I made them. Even my brother said 'wow!'. I also had to make an Easter themed one for Miss C :) She won't wear it on Easter Sunday but we have plenty of other times for her to wear it. Like today! I followed these simple instructions that I found on Punkin Patterns. They were SO easy and took very little time. And, they came out exactly how I envisioned them in my head...that rarely happens! I didn't add anything to the shirts for my nieces since they were already embellished but I did for my daughter's. I just used heat n'bond and some scrap fabric. I google searched "peep bunnies" and got a picture to trace and cut it out. Here they are in all their beautiful-ness!

This is Miss C 'hanging with her Peeps'...this is the best shot. Photographing a one year old is tough!

 These are the ones for my nieces. I used about 1 1/2 yards for each of the skirts. I wanted to be sure my overly tall niece would be able to wear hers all summer.

 I HAD to make them bows to match the dresses with some of the leftover material. I originally found the bow on Fabric Bows and More but the tutorial is from Craft Snob. These really completed the look and my nieces love wearing my bows in their hair :)

Birthday 'Panda'-monium

Every year my sister allows my two nieces to each choose the theme for their birthday party. My youngest niece has a birthday on April Fool's day and she turned three this year :) Months ago she decided what she wanted and told us and sent my sister and I into a planning scramble where we franctically searched high and low for the tools we needed. She wanted a panda party. We still don't know how or why she came to this decision. Today was the party and it was a success. The birthday girl was thrilled! We couldn't find any party supplies or decorations that weren't Kung-Fu panda so we improvised :) She stuck with a theme of black and white and searched through the millions of toys and stuffed animals her girls have and pulled out any and all pandas and set them throughout the party.

This is the main party area with balloons and goodie bags.

 This big panda actually belongs to my mom. She works for a church and this year VBS has a panda theme and she bought this for it and let my sister borrow it. My sister tried to talk my niece out of the HUMONGOUS 3 balloon but since she wouldn't be getting any character balloons this year my sister eventually gave in :) We sat my niece here with a 'thank you' sign and took her picture for the thank you cards.

 This part I am so impressed and proud of! My sister has never made a cake/cupcakes for her girls' birthdays. I have always done it for them since I have a bit more talent. She got the cupcake idea from Bakerella and did a GREAT job! The letter picks are something I got for her while in Argentina a few years ago and they go on the birthday cake every year :)

 She used the wilton free standing teddy bear cake pan and just used black and white icing. Again, she has never done this so it isn't perfect but still totally cute!

 My sister also gave me Bakerella's book for my birthday. As soon as I opened she informed me I had to make these for the party. Not entirely happy with how they came out but I haven't done cake pops in a while...

 These were in the goodie bags. We found them at Dollar Tree in the baby item section. The large one has 3 fortune cookies in it and the little one has gummie panda bears we found at Big Lots.

I didn't take any pictures but of course we had Chinese food to finish off the theme. My nieces love Chinese food so this was a hit. My sister ordered three entrees from a local restaurant and then bought her egg rolls and fried  rice at Sam's Club and did it herself. Everyone was pretty pleased and incredibly full!