Dance bag Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!-CLOSED

 When Lucy started dance again back in the fall,

she needed new tap shoes, ballet shoes, tutus, tights, and of course leotards!

I couldn't believe that in one summer she outgrew everything!

With all this fancy schmancy dance attire, she had to have  could use a new bag, right?

I must warn you, if you were looking for a difficult dance bag tutorial, 

you are in the wrong place

I made 2 of these, 1 for Lucy, and of course one for Marin.

These girls get crazy compliments on these bags and have even sold a few

Supplies needed:
White tote bags (You can find a 3 pack at Hobby Lobby for $6.99)
Tulle of any color
Coordinating Ribbon
Hot Glue (and Gun :o))

I have an embroidery machine so I decided to embroider Lucy's name
If you decide to do the same, or have someone do it for you, Make sure this is your first step
You don't want the tulle to get tangled or malled
Step 1
Lay out your bag of choice and the tulle
Tulle is extremely difficult to work with 
I find that when it comes to tulle be as simple as possible
I folded over the tulle several times to make it fuller and the right size

Pin the tulle to the bag starting in the middle
I wanted a cleaner look for this bag so I pinned the tulle straight
If you want a "rufflier" bag, pleat every 2 inches
Is rufflier a word? It should be!

sew with a straight stitch
Don't worry about making it perfect, you'll cover with the ribbon 

It should look like this

Now that you have the tulle sewn, pull out your ribbon
You can sew this on or use your Hot Glue
I prefer to sew since it is being carried by kids

Sew a straight stitch on top, and on the bottom
Set the bag to the side
Take your ribbon and make a bow
You can find that tutorial here
Glue your bow to the center of the ribbon

Since I take the easy way out when working with tulle and fold it to make it fuller,
you will want to cut it to make it fluffy
You can see in the picture below where to cut

 Here you go! I love the leopard with the pink

This is fun for holidays too. 

Now for the GIVEAWAY!

Yay! My first one!
This bag can be yours!


Here are the rules:
1. Become a follower and leave a comment saying you are
(leave a comment if you always have been)
2.Blog about the giveaway and leave a comment letting me know

Butterfly Bow Tutorial

Hair bow tutorials seem to be so secretive on the internet

I guess thats because it is the most sold item at small town festivals

I know how to make them, and I still buy them!

I was making several for some of Lucy's new outfits and thought I would share with you

Items Needed:

Ribbon

Hair Clip (you can use alligator or clamp style)

No Fray

Thick thread

Hair Clip (they kind beauty salons use)

Hot Glue Gun and Glue

First, you want to measure your ribbon. I usually cut mine around 38 inches

Fold your ribbon as shown

Then, fold the other side. This is where you can eyeball it 

to make sure that the sides are even

Take the center of the right side of the ribbon and pull down to the middle

Do they same to the other side, and secure with the Hair Clip
You can see the Butterfly take shape here

Take your heavy thread and pull it through the hair clip as shown

Pull the thread tightly and slowly being sure not to snap it

And secure it with a knot

Now its time to start on the middle piece

Because I didn't have a smaller coordinating ribbon on hand I made my own

Take a small piece of ribbon and a thin line of hot glue

Fold 1/2 over, then repeat until you have a smaller ribbon

On the front of the bow add a small dot in the middle

and add the small piece of ribbon

Flip over and glue your choice of clip
I chose to use a barrette clip

Open the clip and remove the center so you can glue the other side of ribbon

Cut your ends.....

Add a little Fray block.....

And Voila!

Don't forget to come back on Monday to check out 
my Faux Health, Faux Real Series


I'll be linking here

Handmade Gifts (Part 3)

We are now in the final Day of out 3 part series

You have to get started on your gifts!

We are 1 week away!

This is another easy one

I know there are so many versions on Blogland so I wanted to share mine

You want to start with a nice frame

This particular one come from Michaels

at 50% off with an additional 25% coupon makes the final price $3.45---SCORE!

Grab your chalkboard paint

A lot of people prefer the spray paint form

I like this particular kind from AC Moore

It comes in a ton of colors, you'll see that soon

I then take the glass out and use it as a template to measure the foam board

Paint your foam board

Pop it back into the frame (without glass of course)

And there you have it!

I used Command Strips to hang it from my Refrigerator

I love how it looks on my Fridge, I hope the recipient does too!

Handmade Gifts (Part 1)

With Christmas just a mere week and a half away all of our 

Christmas shopping should be complete, right?

Well if most of you are like me you always leave a few to the last minute

This year I decided to save money (not time) 

by creating my own gifts

Lucy now has 8 cousins and 1 on the way so I needed something sure to please them all

For the 5 older kids I made these Art Kits

I first started with some scrap fabric

and made a mini version of the crayon roll

I have never made a crayon roll or even attempted to be honest

Its seems way above my sill level

I started by making a pattern out of paper

I first folded 2 pieces of paper in 1/2

I put the first to the side
The 2nd one was cut in 1/2 to a measurement of 5 1/2 inches
You can see where I folded the paper as if I were hemming it

I took the 2nd piece and slid it into the opening of the folded piece

Once I had the idea in my head, I was able to cut my fabric with the pattern

I sewed the first piece as if it were a pillow leaving one of the longer sides open

Folded it back to the right side

I then took the 2nd piece and slid it into the opening

 I then folded it leaving about 1 inch in the "pocket"

By leaving about 1 inch inside, it gave about 3 inches on the outside for the real pockets

I stitched around the entire square, then I made vertical lines to make the slots

With a little velcro, I attached it to the inside of the bucket

I also used a little Chalkboard paint on the outside to write their names

I put scissors, a few crayons, paint, paper, stickers, chalk and glue

Lucy made some candy and will put that in there too.

Then entire project cost $18 for 6 kits!!!!

I'll be linking to 

You melt my heart

Every year since Lucy was born, we make "handmade" ornaments

You know the kind, the hand print hanging on the tree.

They are still my favorite, so we will probably still do them

But- for now, I decided to make it more fun for Lucy

While browsing Michael's earlier today we saw ball ornaments

They were plastic!!! Have I been living under a rock?!?!

I thought they were all made out of glass!!!!

We decided on the melted snowman 

Here is what you need:

glue

Ornament balls

glitter

some felt

sticks (from the yard)

paper

tooth pick ( I used mini skewers I had laying around)

And if you are lucky enough to have one of these.....

I had Lucy squeeze the glue into the hole,

shake around the glitter until you have a blob

Use your toothpick to arrange the hat, scarf, buttons, and nose etc.

I used felt because I like the way it made it look a little more real

Because melted snowman in a globe are so common and real, right?

She had a blast, however the attention span of a soon to be 3 year old is short

We only completed 2 of the 4

There is always tomorrow!

I still need to had the "you melt my heart" tag

Just not sure what I want yet

What do you think?