Halloween-y Hair Bow

Hi! Well, the harvest season is in full swing and now is the time for our cuties to sport costumes.  This year, both my cuties dressed up as ghosts.  Our ghost pillowcase dress just needed a cute, coordinating hair bow, so here it is.  I love the way the zebra ribbon ties the orange and black together.  The zebra ribbon was only $1.97 for the roll, the black and orange were I think $2.97 for each.  You will have plenty left over of each for other projects.  I actually used the zebra fabric for ties on a pillowcase dress and had plenty left over for this bow.  I love using what I already have on hand!  The middle I go from a pack of buttons like this:

 I believe there were a little under $2. You will have plenty to use for other projects!  I also use the French barrette clips like the ones below.
 
 The items you need for this project are:

A wide ribbon for the bottom

A bit narrower for the middle ribbon

A narrow ribbon for the top ribbon

button

a clip

thread and needle

The first thing you do is cut the wide ribbon into three 4" pieces and lay them out like you see below.  You will then stabilize them by sewing the three pieces together just in the center.  

Next, measure your middle ribbon and cut three 6" pieces.  They need to be longer because they are loops.  Make sure your needle is on top of your first layer of your middle ribbon and then make a loop on each end with the ends in the center.  Push your needle up through all three layers and 
 push it down to rest on top of the wide ribbons you've already sewn together.  Continue to attach the other two pieces of your middle color group. 








Next, situate them the way you want them to look and 
sew all the way through the bottom ribbons and back 
up through all the layers so that they won't move around.
You will see how it should look, below.

 Now you are ready for your third and last layer of ribbon for your hair bow.  This is the narrowest of the three ribbon groups.  Measure three 4" lengths of ribbon and cut them.  You will loop these just like you did the middle color group of ribbon.

 Now you are ready to sew all the way through to stabilize this group once you have it situated the way you want.  Now you are ready to sew on the botton on top.  It will take some finger muscles to sew all the way through a few times, but it's not very hard to do this.

 Now, you're ready to cut a v in each edge of the widest, bottom ribbon.  This makes it look nice and will keep it from fraying.  I always just run a light along the edges of the v.  Do this very quickly or you will singe it and it will look black.  If you quickly run the lighter along the edge the little frays will disappear and you'll know it's ready!

 Now, just hot glue the clip onto the bottom of the hair bow, let it dry.  Finally, some little cutie pie has a new hair bow!

Have fun crafting.  I love to share the joy of creating and crafting with you. Have a blessed day! 
Courtney C.

Ghost Pillowcase Dress for our American Girl

 Hello, all.  I promised the next post would include instructions for the matching dress for, Lindsey, our resident American girl doll.  I am much too frugal to pay for the matching clothing, so I just made our own, and it turned out well.  Here are the dresses together.  Notice the matching hair bows, easy as well.

Here's Lindsey by herself.  She is quite the model. :-)

Here's what you need:
an old pillow, zebra print cotton fabric, zebra ribbon and black cotton fabric for the ghostie face.  I bought the ribbon and fabric at Wal-Mart.  I had the pillowcase and black fabric on hand, so it was a very inexpensive project, about $12.00 for both dresses.  You will not find that bargain at the store!  The doll dress really only took about thirty minutes to make, once I had learned the process from making the dress for my cutie pie.

     The first thing you do is cut a pillowcase down to doll size, about 12" long and 10" across.  Make sure the two long edges are sewn closed and the top and bottom are open.
     Next, cut out the arm holes like in the original tutorial: ghostie with the mostie.  Then just follow that tutorial.  The only difference is the length of the zebra print.  I only cut a 2" length for the bottom of the doll dress and the face pieces are smaller.  I hope this will help you.  If you have questions, ask away.  Have a blessed day! Courtney C.

Revamped End Table: From 70's to Now

Hola, all!  I hope you're all having a blessed day.  I would like to share one of my larger projects I've been working over the past week and a half.  I am very excited about this little end table.  It is the perfect size to hold all of my scrapbooks.  My kids are excited, too.  I know they're going to drag them out twice as much and that's just fine.  It's a great way to count your blessings when you look back on all those great times and not so great times we've had as a family.
  I found this little beauty at a local church's yard sale and was excited about the $10 price tag.  My husband was not so much,  just because he thought it would sit in the garage for a year or more. NOT! It was only in there for three months, thank you very much.  However, I can understand his hesitation.

This is how it started out:

We have all played around these at a neighbor's house or a grandparent's house in the seventies or early 80's.  I know I did. BLAST FROM THE PAST!!

Anyways, this one was very sturdy and wasn't very knicked up, so I took it.  The first order of business was cleaning it.  I just washed it with soap and water, inside and out, top to bottom.  Then I took all the hardware ( hinges and handles) off and laid them and the screws aside.  Place your screws in a safe place. (I lost one, just FYI.  My ADD is tough when it comes to long projects.)

 Next, it's time to prime! Here's the primer I use.  My littlest helper is holding it up so you can see the label.  You will want to prime everything: table, inside and outside, top and bottom, doors and hardware.  I always just use one thin coat.  Make sure it doesn't pool or drip or your paint will look drippy and sloppy.


Next it is time to paint. It will take two good coats of paint on top of the primer.  Just take your time and watch for drips.

 Make sure to use painters tape when you want to paint colors that will be side by side so that you get crisp lines.  I painted  the table white and taped off where the gray inlay on top would go.   I taped the doors around the inside frame where the gray would be painted. Now paint!

 

 It looks pretty messy right now, but once you remove the tape it looks one hundred times better.  Let it dry completely, several hours.  I did use two coats so that it will be even and smooth.

VIOLA!!!  Now ain't that purty!

Next, I stenciled the damask pattern on four sides of the hexagonal table, leaving the two sides with the doors as they were after adding the inlay of gray.  I battled with the question of whether to stencil or not.  I like simple, but I wanted to try my hand at damask, so my need to craft won out.

The stenciling process was simple.  I used a tape measure to find the center of each side.  Measure sideways, mark the middle.  Measure from top to bottom, mark the middle.  I then place the middle mark in the center of my stencil and worked from the center out to make sure the pattern was uniform and nice-looking.  After I completed the center stencil, I made one above it, then below it, then diagonally.

After all the painting and stenciling is complete, I painted the hardware white and used the clear stain on everything.  I add a clear satin coat by Minwax.  It is a water-based polycrylic finish that works great on indoor furniture upon which you will set picture frames, lamps, etc.  It makes all that hard work worth it, not to have it messed up so quickly.

Here's the finished product, once again.  I hope  you enjoyed the post.  Drop me a line.  Any questions and followers are welcome. Happy crafting!!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Phillipians 4:13  Courtney C.

Ghostie with the Mostie

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I would just like to say, "How about those leaves!!"  I absolutely love the fall with all the bright colors and this year God is showing out in the Volunteer State.  With fall, comes one of our favorite holidays, Halloween. Who doesn't love candy and pretend??  I would hate to know.  Here are my little ghosties dressed up in the spook-ta-cu-lor pillowcase dress and matching ghostie t-shirt.  (Here is a little secret. Don't tell my son, but he asked me to make a t-shirt for him once he saw sissy's dress.  At his age, I know it isn't going to be long before mom-made isn't going to be quite so cool, so, of course, I said, "Absolutely!"  You see the matching dress, Lindsey, our resident American girl doll is wearing.  It was easy!

I will share my pics and tutorial because I am a cheap skate and cannot pay the price for matching clothes for cutie pie and her doll.  Now, you can do the same without breaking the bank!  You can make these dresses if I can.  I am no seamstress maven.  (I will share a secret.  This is the first time I ever tried zigzagging with the sewing machine.  So you can absolutely do this, too!

Here's what you need for the pillowcase dress:
1 pillowcase
1 spool zebra 3/4 inch wide ribbon (I got mine at Wal Mart)
Black cotton fabric or fleece for the eyes and mouth
Zebra fabric (Creative Cuts sells it at Wal Mart but I am sure Joann's or Hobby Lobby will have it.)

First, you cut the closed end of the pillow off. When you cut, both ends will be open.  I used an old pillowcase that I found in the closet.  If you have one around the house, it will save you money.

 Just hold it up to your model to see how much you need to cut off.
I made sure to place it above the shoulders since that is where it will be tied and remember you will use at least 1" for the tube through which the ribbon will run.  If you hem under the unfinished edges !/4" remember it will be that much shorter. However you will add the fabric to the bottom, so don't forget that when judging how long you want the pillowcase at this point.  I prefer it right at knee length, but that's just me.  Do what works best for you. (I cut off the bottom where the thick part is at the opening, just because I wanted it to look like a dress not a hacked up pillowcase.)

     Next, just mark where you want the arm holes to go.  I just mark one side.  Fold it in half lengthwise and cute the holes at the same time to save time and keep the arm holes uniform.  Remember, the tube for the straps/ribbons will be used here.  So when you measure your child's arm to see how big you need to cut, add an inch for the ribbon tube or 1 1/4" if you hem the unfinished edges of the tube.  After you, cut the desired arm hole, hem the semi-circular area so that it won't unravel after washing your dress.


 Here's how it looks with the arm holes cut out.  Now you want to iron and sew a 1" tube at the top.  One tube will run across the front and one will run across the back. I used a metal ruler to measure and then just ironed on top of it.  Pin the sections to be sewn and then just sew a straight stitch along each edge to form the tubes that hold the ribbon or fabric ties.  I apologize the poor

quality of the pics.  The lighting is not the best and my camera is cheap.  I hope you can see them well enough.
I sew the straight line as close to the edge as possible since the ribbon I chose was 7/8" wide and the tube is only 1" wide.

 Now, just run the ribbons through the front and the back.  Make sure to leave plenty of ribbon on the ends so that you can tie pretty bows and have some play room.  Next came the fun part, modeling the dress.

Then you just free hand an eye.  Fold your fabric and cut so that you have two identically shaped eyes and draw and cut an oval for the mouth.  I made the mouth and eyes around the same size, about 3 inches and it worked just fine.  Make them however large or small you prefer.

Cutie Pie thought I was finished, but now it was time to sew on the face and add the trim fabric at the bottom. I pinned the eyes and mouth on well because this was the first time I have ever use the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine.  I know I am a big chicken when it comes to trying new things!  Next you just want to zigzag all around the eyes and the mouth.

Next, you just add the zebra trim.  Just lay your fabric and dress right sides together. Pin it together.  Sew a straight stitch.  Unpin and then hem the bottom of the zebra fabric.  Viola! You are finished and ready to make a matching dress for her favorite doll.

The matching doll dress and the hair bows will be my next posts.  Please follow my blog to see more!  I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about your own Halloween projects.  Don't forget to follow my blog! Have a blessed day.
Courtney C.

I linked up to Serenity Now's weekend bloggy party.  Come join the fun!

ghostie pillowcase dress

From Rags to Riches: How to Make Your Own Rag Rug

Hola y'all!  This week has been busy, busy, busy with summer fun with the kiddos, but I made time to make the cutest rag rug for the kids' bathroom.  Here's a pic of the finished project.  So sorry for the fuzzy pic.  My digital camera is el cheapo and maybe a bit steamed up from the summer heat here in the South. :-)  I hope you can still see the cuteness.

I used old t-shirts.  Not pristine, coddled preppy t-shirts, the old painted in, haled-hay in, hiked-in t-shirts.  Maybe you have a few as did my husband.  (Shhh, don't tell him.  He'll never miss them if you don't tell.  Haha.  Anyway, I saw a cute picture of a rag rug somewhere and thought, "I can do that and won't have to spend a dime.)  I hope the same is true for you.  I am all about being green, especially in my wallet and yours. :-)  Here's another pic of the finished project.  

If your interested, here is my supply list and tutorial.  I hope it helps you create your own lovely little rag rug for your nest.

Supply List:
1 XL t-shirt   for the base of the rug (cut in the largest      
                         rectangle you can)
good sewing shears (so you don't wear out your grip)
5-6 adult size or 10-12 kid size t-shirts (old ones you don't 
                           care to cut up, the less graphics on there the 
                           better.)
TIME (It takes a while.  A Bachelorette or So You Think You 
             Can Dance Marathon may be in order while you 
             construct your rag rug)

First, you cut the t-shirt into a rectangle.  I used a rotary cutter and ruler.  The larger size the shirt, the larger the rectangle base.   You can sew two shirts together to make it longer if you want a runner.

Next, you will cut 1/4" to 1/2" slits into a long row.  You can fill your base with rows of slits or you can cut a row of slits and then thread that row with fabric strips.  Then cut another row of slits and thread it, and so on.  This is what I did just because I have the attention span of a five-year-old and can't do the same thing for too long without getting majorly bored.
Your fabric strips need to be 5" to 6" in length and about 1" to 1 1/2" in width.

 Here is how it looks as you work on it.  You just put one end of your fabric strip in one slit and then thread the other end into the next slit.  Then thread the next strip into the second hole.  The first and second strips will share a hole, as will the second and third strips and so on.  This will hold your strips in place.  You can see how it should look in the picture above right.  

Here's a picture of the strips laid out.

Here's a picture of me threading the rug.  I hope this helps you.  It really is an easy project.  It just takes time.  This is not a one day project, but if you can practice patience, it turns out really cute and is super inexpensive.  I hope you have as much fun with your rag rug as I did.  Happy crafting!!

Courtney C.  

This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.  BE BLESSED!!!

**Side note** After a while the strips began to come out, so I had to start over.  I used a rubber rug mat.  One that you glue to the bottom of a rug to keep your rug from sliding all over the place.  I just threaded the strips through there, tying the skinny strips.  Hopefully, this will work better.

  Just wanted to share with you so that your project will be successful! Blessings Courtney C.