V and Co: how to: make an ombre ruffled flower onesie

nothing says girl like pink ruffles. so lets round out with what else...pink ruffles.

this one is one of my favorite ones. super easy, super texture-y and super cute. 

we talked about dying your onesie ombre here.

and then we talked about dying and appliquéing your doily on the onesie here.

so now lets talk about making ombre flowers for a onesie.

what you'll need:

-one onesie.

-4 strips of 11/2" by at least 10" of white jersey. (i got mine at joann's) but you can get some from amazon, or you can just take an old white t-shirt as well. 

-rit dye 

 to make your strips ombre:
-take one end and dip the strip 1/3 of the way in and then let 1/4 of the strip set inside the dye for about 5 minutes.
-flip it around and do it to the other side as well.

 to make your ruffles:
-place your machine to it's longest stitch (mine is #5)
-place the top thread by the spool in between your fingers, and give a little tension

on one side of your strip start sewing the running stitch as you hold the thread up above to give it tension, and watch your strip begin to ruffle.

 next take your ruffled strip and curl it into itself to create one flower.

i am holding the back of the flower this is what it should look like on the back, the one on the table is what it should look like on the front.

 next with a needle and thread, go through all layers of the bottom layer of the flower. make sure you do it a few time in different locations on the bottom so that it is secure.

now to attach the flowers onto the onesie.

there are a few ways to do this. the way i did it was to place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt, and place a few dabs of fabric glue on the back of each flower.

once i let it dry, i then went back and secured it with a few stitches in each flower onto the onesie.

but as you can see any there are a few gaps that get created whenever you move the onesie around, and i want it to look more like a corsage...so we:

 make a few stitches in between on the flowers so that when the baby moves around she wont lose the shape of the corsage.

and now you have the means of making some super cute onesies.

go at it!

V and Co: crash and burn baby

 this week i had a very exciting, sad, weird, fun, happy marker come true for me.
i sent my last child to school.
after 12 years of having at least one small person in my home i now have 6 hours where all my minions/noisemakers/things i call my children are in school.
i thought i was going to have a super hard time with it.
then i didn't.
and then the third day came and then i did have a hard time with it.

on wednesday i went and got a pedicure, shopped (where i FINALLY after TWO WHOLE DANG YEARS, found my yellow cardigan i've been searching and searching for. i found it at old navy and funny the color is "nebraska corn". the dress was found there as well on clearance for $9.99), and then went to lunch at a sit down restaurant with another mom that was celebrating "the last child going to school" marker as well.

so yes, that day was fine, i even sang "it's the best day ever" song by spongebob.
then thursday we had an eventful time of going to joann's getting something's i needed and trying to figure out exactly what project i need to work on first, and had a couple of fun visitors (hello ladies!)...went to lunch again...and then had the kids show up from school.

again. no missing them, and feeling like: "uh wait didn't i just send you out the door? i kind of really like this no having to deal with kiddo things for 6 hours straight!"

then today happened:

and well poor buck and i aren't handling our new found freedom as graciously today as we thought we would.
i guess i'm doing okay...
i'm feeling just mildly disoriented...nothing a good written out schedule wont fix...so i'll be fine, give me a couple of more days of wandering around in circles, finally getting a schedule, and then rejoicing in the fact that i actually have the opportunity to miss my children.

 but the dog, he's really missing his best friend.

he naps, and hangs out in her room most of the day, and when he's tired of that, he sits and stares at me until he realizes i'm not going to put bows, or fabric, or sunglasses on him, or play dolls on him, as the little girl noisemaker likes to do when she's around. he either then just lays down near me, or goes back to her room. poor guy.

or maybe he's like totally okay with it and is like "dude, finally, MY room all by myself with no stupid bow on my ear! i'm just going to relax."
yeah, i don't think so.
maybe i'll rent a kid to sit on him for a few hours a day while she's gone.

or maybe i'll find him a yellow cardi and a cute dress so his third day crash and burn isnt a repeat on monday.
k, that's it, target, old navy, tj maxx, lunches with friends,  and sewing....yeah, that's what i'll have him do so he can see how awesome this new chapter in our life is going to be! :)

once again...target...thank you

 for seriously once again, making my money fly out of my pocket faster than i can make it.

 these adorable decorative tapes come in a variety of colors and is available at your local target.
 and once again i will say it...

target i love you but you are freaking me out with how evil you are.
stop it. this relationship is becoming quite unhealthy.
can't wait to see what you throw at me next.

V and Co: garage sale season is upon us

 last year i scored big time at the end of the season with my awesome hexy table for $3. so this year of course i'm on a mission to find garage sale finds that i'm so excited about and will help me continue the decorating of this house.
sad to report that this year i've come up short thus far on furniture but have scored big time on some cute toys for the kids.

 first and foremost i found for $1 hungry hippos.
i totally remember playing this as a kid with my cousins and LOVING it. good times.

 as an adult i look at this game as the LOUDEST game i have ever seen. holy hannah, that's a lot of noise. and the kids' volume seems to need to get just as loud if not louder to hear each other or in the V and Co. kids just plain ol having LOUD fun. sheesh.
warning letting the kids play hungry hippo before 9 am will just make for a loud morning, and will set the tone for the rest of the day. i would save this for a time where the kids are lethargic, and if they aren't i suggest to do it outside, so you can hose them down with cold water from the hose. but that might get the neighbors looking at you strangely.

 while im in the living room i wanted to show you my very bland but closer to what i want mantel display, it's not made too many leaps and bounds but we're getting closer to a more decorated house.
still hate the paint (which you can't really see the color in this picture). it looks peach in our house. so i'm saving money AGAIN to paint it AGAIN.
this has caused a rift in the husband and my relationship because he just wont do what i tell him to and to basically drop everything and paint the whole house... AGAIN.
kidding. no rift, but the man keeps saying he can't see past the crazy that we just painted it less than 6 months ago...just to paint it again, a different shade, that i might just hate as well.
he's being difficult i know. >:P
maybe i'll get it done soon maybe i'll just deal with it for a while longer.

 okay so lets just say that my garage sale finds have mainly been geared girly things. i have not had very much success in the boy department. but we will continue to try to find things that my boys just have to have. but honestly...don't know what it is till i see it so we will continue the hunt.

okay, so first up we have barbie's car.
katie is all girl, but she freaking loooooooooooooves cars.
she likes polly pockets but wants the car that goes with the polly pocket.
she loves strawberry shorcake, lalaloopsy, and hello kitty.
and by george did you know they all have freaking cars? they do.

 

so when i saw this at the garage sale for $2 it was a no brain-er. bought. and loved

barbie likes to cruise around with her shoes and handbag in the trunk and with her second hand ken in tow as well. makes for great summer fun. :)

 okay now i have to let you in a little secret. i absolutely have a thing for all miniature toys. make it girly and you will get a squeal from me.
shut up that's why i kept trying for a girl so i could buy this crap and not have it look weird. okay? okay.
anywho, first up has got to by one of my favorite thing. my next door neighbor new that we katie liked hello kitty. so when she was getting ready for her garage sale she brought over this adorable little vintage hello kitty family set.
i started bouncing up and down, and speaking in a high pitch voice at the neighbor, to which she said "um it's for katie...okay?" yeah whatever.
katie loves the family, but i think i love it more.

 these little fisher price houses were actually found before we moved to iowa, but i had to include them. they were $1.50 each at a second hand store called deseret industries. if you are ever in utah, they are all over and they are a great place to find second hand stuff. :)

 oh look the hello kitty mommy is just the right size for the cute little houses.

 and once you open them up you see that there is a living room, dining room and a couple of bedrooms one being a nursery. sigh. i love it.
ahem, so does katie, she plays with it practically every day.

 okay and last but not least i had to show you these adorable little hello kitty "eggs"

 when you push the little button: the lids open up and you have a uber super mini hello kitty and friend doing fun and adorable cute things on tiny furniture and accessories.
yes, i know, i have an illness, the husband tells me every time i see a garage sale sign.

but whatever the case, for less than a bundle of money, joy is brought to both the person who likes to hunt the perfect finds, and the kids that like to play really noisy finds.
happy garage sale season.
i'm so not done yet. much to the husbands delight. haha. :)

V and Co: adventures in paper piecing

 so what do you do when you feel like you have SO much on your plate, that you don't even know where to begin?
well, if you are me, you put aside some of the super pressing deadlines you've put upon yourself (along with things you said you would do so they are actually other people's deadlines as well) and you totally dive in and learn a new trade, and fall hard, fast in passion with it.
yup, talking about paper piecing.
holy crap! where have you been all my sewing career? um right under my freaking nose apparently and i just didn't know how awesome it was.

 when faith was here i asked her to take a minute of her time to just show me a little bit of how to do her magic trickery of absolute coolness that is called paper piecing. yeah yeah, so a lot of you already know how to do it, or have been doing it for decades yadda yadda yadda. but this was my first time EVER giving it a try, and let me tell you. it's opened up a WHOLE NEW WORLD people. i almost feel like i just want to try and try and try different things. it's kind of cool. and it makes certain designs actually easy to do.

SO, here's faith's instructions on how to paper piece, i had to look at it like a hundred times before my brain finally did a click (because even though she showed me in person...for some reason my brain is mush from too many other things and it took me a couple times looking and trying to finally get it. again. :)

 i drew up my super simple design and added the 1/4" seam she tells you to, and then i picked out my colors. (yes, COLOR! I LOOOOOOOOVE COLOR right now! monochromatic, ombre, shades that look awesome together you name it i'm playing with it! whole other post coming up on that.)

 and then i started. i cut out my fabric a little bigger i normally would need to because it's all still kind of new to me, and i'm still wetting my feet.

 and then i messed up because i forgot i was suppose to do it "backwards" but looking at faith's instructions really helped me train my brain...and then well WATCH OUT I GOT ALL AWESOME!

 and ended up making a silly looking thing like this...ooooh but wait it's just because i hadn't trimmed my edges!

 turn it around trim it up, aaaaaaannnnnnd.....

BAM! yeah that's what i'm talking about. that right there made my day.
do you even know how long i've had something close to that little block drawn up in my little book of drawings? like years. never knew how i would accomplish it...and there i did it in like 5 minutes.

 i had a little bit of extra time (hahahaha! hmmm) and made it into a little pincushion. yup. so cute. then i went and picked up girl noisemaker from school and got other noisemakers doing homework, and ready for soccer...when little miss girl noisemaker finds said adorable pincushion and SQUEELS:
"CAN I HAVE IT?!"
"sure what you gonna do with it?"
this is what she did:

yup, one of my hand warmers, and now my pin cushion are making for a really cute set up for her barbie's furniture...perhaps a very small quilt is in order next?
hmmmmmmm...
hey faith: you think i could make really small blocks of your summer sampler? 
:D

V and Co: how to: easy doll diaper bag

katie's birthday is at the end of this month. she is all about little tiny things...and babies. she plays house most of the day and if she's not with her babies she's playing with tiny little babies that fit in your hand (well, when she's not bothering i mean playing with the dog.) i've worked on her kitchen (you can see a little of it here) in the past but now i'm focusing on her baby's needs.

upon closer inspection you can see that this little bag is carrying quite a load, and if she's anything like her mom...the more pockets the better to stuff crap in that you *think* you need. :/

this little bag was found at michaels in the scrap-booking section on clearance for $4.25. i've found like ones at walmart (in black and brown and pink)
when i saw it first (over a year ago) i thought "funny that looks like a diaper bag...oh my gosh that looks like a TOTALLY CUTE DIAPER BAG!!!" but i resisted. and walked away from it. many many many many times.

 

 but with micheal's cute color and inside design, i couldn't resist this last time. i was finally ready to make this into a diaper bag for katie, and my excuse of it's her birthday month made it all that much easier. um especially when all she keeps talking about is baby rapunzel, and how much she wants her for her birthday... and any time i bring up ANYTHING else (seriously bikes and scooters even!) for her birthday she says "oh i like that! but i really want baby punzel." (which sounds a lot like "baby pretzel" to the untrained ear.)
sigh. okay we'll get that doll, with a ton of  hair that will look like a rat's nest within a millisecond you get it...
so i went to work.
i went to target and got this cute starting kit for a diaper bag:

and i added a few other things i made like the zig zag quilt and an old cell phone i wasnt using any more...

changing pad went in first at the bottom... and we added lotion (for some reason not pictured (sorry!) but included in the collection that you get in the kit)

then the wipes and quilt...

bottles and sippy cups...

can't forget the food...

and of course the cell phone. which makes this one:

yes, well minus the cloth diapers mom is still making!
um and any other suggestions on what else? i'm thinking a cute little baby book...i'll have to think on how to execute that one.
hope she likes it as much as i do. :)