Is your make-along doll underdressed and you’re pressed for time? With the risk of being captain obvious, here’s a quick photo tutorial for how to make a super cute, easy apron dress for your doll.
this blog post is from the wonderful weewonderfuls … check out her blog for more tutorials etc!!
I had the great pleasure of sending some of my animal pins to the lovely Stephanie who was planning a woodland animals theme party for her Son. Here is the process she went through to make the day truly brilliant!! 🙂
I love planning parties, and I knew early on that I wanted to go all-out for our son’s first birthday celebration. An outdoor party is one of the perks to being born in the summer months where we live. It was difficult to settle on a theme for Theo’s first birthday bash, but once a friend of mine helped to lead me to the Woodland Animals idea (an expansion on the ever so popular theme “Owls”), the planning really started to begin. My son’s birthday was going to fall on a Saturday this year, and we decided that we would host the party at our house. We also had received an offer on our house a few weeks prior, so this very well could have been our last big event with family and friends at our home before moving. We had a lot to celebrate!
When planning a first birthday party, (or any party!) you need to think about the food that you will serve, party decor, dessert, beverages, and of course – birthday outfits! Usually, when we have guests over, my husband will grill. Those of you who have cooked for a party know how much work that is for that person. After talking with some of my friends who have hosted birthday parties at their homes, I was told about these hot dog carts. I received a couple of recommendations, and I am almost certain we hired the best possible hot dog guy out there. Meet Hot Dog Joe:
Joe was awesome for a few reasons: 1) He is a Cubs fan, 2) He brought everything needed to serve up delicious Vienna Beef hotdogs, and 3) He was the nicest guy ever – a delight to have at our party! My sisters and I prepared five other sides for the guests to go along with the dogs. We served baked beans, bow tie pesto pasta salad with mozzarella and tomatoes, roasted corn salad with lime avocado cilantro dressing, fruit salad, and loaded baked potato salad. All of the sides were prepared in advance and were brought out as soon as the hot dogs were ready to go, which was soon after the start of the party. Hiring Joe to do the main course allowed for us to not have to worry at all about food. No mess, no clean-up – it simplified the whole food organization process!
Once I had the food planning finished, I moved on to working on the dessert and the dessert table. After poking around on Pinterest for a couple of days, I decided I wanted a fabulous cake, cupcakes, and a s’mores type dessert. I talked to my sisters about the s’mores, and they decided to take on the task of creating the chocolate dipped mallows. My mother was on board with creating the vibrant red mushroom cupcakes.
In order to make the s’mores, you take a pretzel stick and push it into the top of a marshmallow. You then dip the mallow in chocolate and then roll it into graham cracker crumbs. From what I was told – they were very easy to make. For the cupcakes, there are a few important things to know. First of all, you will need brown cupcake holders. Go with the paper variety and not the foil type. Also, in order to get a deep red color, you will need some Wilton no-taste red coloring. If you do not have this, the cupcake icing will be more pinkish in color. The white dots are upside down white chocolate chips, which made the cupcakes taste even better than they already were!
For the tree slice cupcake stand, I looked at several options available on online. They were all pricey! I told my husband I was going to purchase one, and within minutes, he was out back chopping wood. I added the moss and voila! A cupcake stand that cost $0 dollars! He also sliced several more wooden rounds for table centerpieces, which I will get to in a bit.
Next up for dessert was The Cake. I needed to call in a professional for the job. I knew of this adorable bakery in downtown Oak Park called Sugar Fixe, which I have been to several times before. How cute is their store front?! And those macarons! This is exactly the type of place that I wish I lived across the street from so that I could stop in for a daily espresso and croissant.
After discussing my vision with Bria, one of the Pastry Chefs who is also the Wedding Director, I knew that she was going to create something amazing for my son. I was BLOWN AWAY when I saw her final cake design. Sugar Fixe is my new go-to special occasion cake designer. I don’t even know how she did it, but she carved a tree bark configuration into the butter cream icing and then hand-crafted 2-D gum paste woodland animals. The cake also had an acorn bunting topper – it was officially the most adorable cake I have ever seen.
And then there was the smash cake. Technically, this cake is TCTS (too cute to smash), but we had to do it! The smash cake complimented the big cake perfectly in every single way. This cake was 100% as delicious as it was cute. The inside was my favorite – carrot cake!
Look at this little boy loving his cake! He was cautious at first, but later was going face-first into it. It was very fun to watch. Sugar Fixe specializes in customer cake designs, dessert tables (with options such as tartlets, brownies, lemon bars, mini cupcakes, meringues, dipped marshmallows, and cake pops), and all sorts of dessert favors. Theirmenu and style of work is truly amazing! Each time I’ve been into their shop (I’ve only been in their Oak Park location, but they also have a shop in Lincoln Park) it is packed. The employees are gracious and have excellent rapport with their customers. I also love that they actively participate in giving back to the community by supporting several organizations, such as Pillar’s Community Services. Sugar Fixe is a model locale business!
So, I am completely aware that centerpieces are not necessary for a backyard party. However, my mom stepped up and offered to “throw something together”. She had a basket of acorns that she thought she could build upon. My mother in law also had wild flowers in her backyard. Together, they came up with these. I was shocked at how creative they were able to be with 100% of the raw materials coming from past craft projects and things from the outdoors.
Another thing that our party needed was a wide-eye beautiful brown grizzly bear. Every woodland forest has a bear, right?! For my baby shower last June, my aunt re-purposed an old polar bear Christmas decoration and turned him into a baby blue bear. Well, I kept that bear, and I thought that he would look amazing in a brown color as well. My other aunt gave him a FULL makeover. Meet Fiona. After three cans of spray paint and some felt, what a transformation!
I planned to make some of the decor myself, including this mossy THEO sign. I picked up wooden letters from Target, and then spray glue and moss from the craft store. I was ready to craft!
This sign was very simple to make. Once you have the moss strategically placed after you apply spray glue, it dries fairly quickly. I loved the way it turned out! The E was my favorite.
In order to prevent the letters from falling over (this was going to be used on the dessert table), my husband nailed them into a strip of wood scrap. Look at this WILD ONE ready for his party!
For the rest of the party decor, I turned to the best – Etsy! In today’s day, if you can think of it, most likely, someone else has too. And with one click, you can have decor en route to your house as quickly as the shop can make that item. I am astonished by the creativity of others!
The Wooden Word designs custom handmade wooden signs for any occasion. They have several pre-made signs available for purchase, but this sign was custom made for Theo’s woodland adventure party. Never Stop Exploring – truer words have never been said. We used this sign for his party and it is now hanging in his nursery. These signs make the perfect shower or birthday gift – request your custom order here!
Banners banners banners! I melted when I saw this burlap fabric high chair banner from PhotograMomProps and this woodland animal banner from SmithStudios2129. The high chair banner is made with owl fabric, which fit our theme perfectly! PhotograMomProps makes banners in many different colors and themes. She has over 150 products on her Etsy page and also does custom orders. SmithStudios2129 creates unique paper party decor and decorations for any special event. She has many different designs available and does custom paper decor work. Both of these ladies were so easy to work with and created products that made our party extra special. I could not handle the cuteness of each of these banners!
My mother in law printed us several of my favorite photos from when our son was 0-3 months old. I intend to frame these pictures one day, but for the party, I hung them from a banner. I used these cute fox badges from Gem Bobs Crafts. I attached the above wooden badges to cloths pins for extra banner flair.
I also had the idea to have a photo backdrop at the party. I was looking around on Pinterest for DIY backdrops, but then I came across Drops And Props. This company is AWESOME! They have hundreds of different patterns, designs, and sceneries to choose from and you can also request a custom design. I loved this Woodland Creatures backdrop, and our guests had so much fun taking pictures in front of it at the party! The backdrop that we had is a 5×7 vertical print on wrinkle-free material. You can choose from three different materials (wrinkle-free fabric, poly paper, and matte vinyl) and you can choose from many sizes ranging from 2×3 up to 10×20 (different sizes offered for different back drop materials). The print was high quality and the heavy-duty material was perfect for our outdoor event. Join their mailing list to receive 10% your first order! I can’t wait to see how I can use their backdrops in the future. DropsProps all the way!
Since we were having a backdrop, we also needed props! PartyEars has the CUTEST animal ear headbands. I opted for the woodland animal headbands, which included a felt owl, deer, raccoon, squirrel, wolf, fox, rabbit, and bear. The headbands were comfortable for all-day wear. PartyEars makes a variety of different animal headbands along with custom orders. You can even send in a photo of your pet and she will replicate their ears! Too cute!
I was able to find printable woodland animal masks on Etsy as well. GoodBadgerPrints offers downloadable PDFs for a variety of mask types. It was so easy to print them off onto thick paper and then cut them out and attach them to a stick.
I searched high and low for the perfect party outfit for Theo. He had two outfits because I knew the smash cake sesh was going to be messy! Eleven 29 Designs makes personalized onesies in a variety of sizes. I was drawn to her shop initially because of a little onesie that had with a fox, raccoon, and squirrel on it. She created the custom printing on the front, which held up fantastically in the wash. This outfit was very fitting for our little boy! The shop owner was a delight to work with for our custom order – very communicative and so easy to work with!
His Wild One t-shirt was from Shop Southern Baby. This shop has so many options to choose from in many colors, designs, and sizes for both boys and girls. She also offers personalized options. Shipping was super fast and Theo’s t-shirt arrived very quickly after our order was made. I paired his tee with these adorable fern print leggingsfrom Lady And Little Bug. Lady And Little Bug specializes in organic handmade clothing and accessories and has a variety of prints to choose from. The quality of her designs is top notch!
Fetes And Fables had exactly what we needed when it came to a birthday crown. Working with Jess was a breeze. She helped to design the perfect wooden crown with a cursive felt ONE. The shop owner specializes in unique party goods such as crowns, utensils, vases, and cake toppers. Follow the Fetes And Fables on Instagram for 10% your first order! Love how she says “adds a touch of whimsy to your day” – her products sure do!
In my search for woodland clothing and décor, I came across the fabulous Mary Ink. This wild mushroom tank was just what I needed. As any parent knows, a first birthday party is not just a celebration for the baby – it is a celebration for the parents who made it through a crazy first year! My husband decided to go t-shirt neutral, but for me, the wild mushrooms were a must! Mary Ink has many designs to choose from – including llamas, tigers, andpinecones to name a few. Loved the fit of this tank top!
I saved the trail mix favor prep for last (inspiration from 100 Layer Cakelet)– this portion all came together in the 11th hour. I had to visit three stores before being able to get my hands on small paper party bags. My sister came by the day before the party to pack off bags of trail mix, which was a blend of peanut butter filled pretzels, nuts, peanut M&Ms, honey nut Cheerios, and raisins. Thank goodness there were 2 lbs of leftovers after all the bags were filled! Yum!
Did I dedicate too much time in the planning of this birthday party? Of course I did! This is my first born we are talking about here! But I had a lot of fun during the planning process. I could not have done it without all of my friends and family who helped me along the way. It was so wonderful being able to celebrate this huge milestone with friends and family.
http://firstthymemom.com/planning-a-woodland-animals-themed-party
Knit Heart Dress Tutorial
Materials:
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Tutorial from the amazing website www.mesewcrazy.com
This is my little sister dress her mum bought for her the other day but it is very long, and long dresses are not good for small children! Lots of tripping over involved. So i turned it up for her. So here is a simple demonstration on how to do it. 🙂
Step 1: Decide on what length you would like the dress to be and cut the remainder of the fabric off. I use crimping scissors to make sure the fabric doesn’t fray.
(Keep the leftover fabric, i used this to make a little headband to match the dress using elastic)
Step 2:Turn the rim up and press. Make sure it has the same thickness all the way along.
Step 3: Repeat the same process as before,
Pin the fabric in place once pressed so it doesn’t move whilst sewing!!
Step 4: Sew all the way along making sure its straight. Easy peasy!! Your probably didn’t need a tutorial but hey.. i thought i’d do one anyway!!
🙂 Happy Sewing!!
Just found this on the amazing site.. Cool Ideas on Facebook..
OMG AMAZING!! Im so gonna make these. What ive worked out that the little bits of white are elastic, and i think the size of the long layer is double your foot.
Happy Making Crafters!!!!
reblogged from bhoomplay
The other day, while I was thinking to get something to put in the water bottle for Bhoom to shake for fun. I saw a plastic grocery bag next to me and then this idea popped up. I think.. well, give it a try.
With some trials and errors, my little jellyfish comes alive just like I thought it would be. : ) When daddy and son first saw it, they’re surprised with their jaws wide open. Then, I asked my hubby to take pictures for this DIY Jellyfish in a bottle.
Things you need to make your own jellyfish (Hope you can find all these in your kitchen) :
1. A transparent plastic grocery bag
2. A plastic water bottles.
3. Thread
4. Food coloring
5. Scissors
Instruction:
• Flatten the bag and cut off the handle and the bottom part (see picture 1)
• Cut along both sides (see picture 2) to split into 2 plastic sheets – by the way, we only use just one of them.
• From the center of the plastic sheet, fold it like a tiny balloon to make the head part and tie it with the thread – not too tight (see picture 3). You must leave a little hole in order to pour some water in the head part (see picture 7-8).
• Now you’ll get the head balloon part and the remaining will be its tentacles. Cut from the edge up to the head part roughly. You’ll get for about 8-10 tentacles (see picture 4).
• For each of them, cut again into 3-4 small strings (see picture 5) – and just cut off the remaining part.
• Trim to make random long and short tentacles (see picture 6)
When finished, you’ll get something like this (the left pile is all the pieces we cut off)
• Put some water into the head part to make it be able to sink (see picture 7). You must leave some air inside to make be able to float up (see picture 8).
• Fill up your water bottle (see picture 9).
• Put your jellyfish in the bottle with a few drops of blue food coloring. Screw in the cap and that’s all. : )
** Don’t forget to make sure the cap is properly closed and tight before give it to children ** 
How to play: Just let the kids turn it upside down – they’ll be surprised to see it moves every time they turn the bottle. And they’ll try to confuse this little jellyfish by turning the bottle back and forth very fast – well, my boy did . : )
For young kids like Bhoom, this will help him exercise his hand and arm muscles when he flips, rotates or turns the bottle. They can also learn about the relationship between the direction of bottle and the movement of the jellyfish. For older kids, you can ask them questions about why the jellyfish always floats up to the water surface and what is the differences between the real jellyfish and the one in the bottle.
You can make a few extra bottles for your child’s friends. Trust me! They’ll have much more laugh and fun playing together. : )
Here’s a little pillow tutorial from the great craftsbeautiful! http://www.abeautifulmess.com
Here is an illustration to use as a guide for cutting out your apple. You’ll need two layers of red fabric in this size. Leave a little extra space at the top (as we’ve shown with the dotted line) because this is where you will stuff your apple from and attach the stem. For the facial features, we created a download for you to print out at home (or you can “eyeball it” based on our photo!) Template/ DOWNLOAD
1. Supplies Needed: red velvet, white and black felt, burlap, green cotton fabric, scissors, stuffing, iron. 2. Cut out pieces using the templates. Turn the red velvet inside out and stitch around the edges, leaving an opening at the top where the stem will go. Flip the apple right-side-out (so the velvet is now showing). Stuff the pillow with the stuffing. 3. Stitch around the edges of the leaf (green fabric), leaving a small opening. Flip the leaf right-side out and iron flat. 4. Stitch around the edge of the stem (burlap), leaving the bottom open. Stuff the stem until slightly plump. 5. Insert the stem and leaf into the opening of the apple and hand-stitch the opening closed (sewing through the stem and leaf). 6. Apply the eyes and mouth with fabric glue. You’re all finished!
I hope you enjoy making this apple pillow for your home!
We love a-frame tents, so we invited Rubyellen to share her method for making your own. Are you excited? Here’s how the magic happens-
1. From the top of each moulding, measure and mark 6″ down with your pencil. 2. With your drill and 3/4″ spade bit, drill a hole at your mark. Try to center the hole on your moulding. These holes will be for the top of your A-frame tent. 3. From the opposite end of your moulding, measure and mark 1.5″ down with your pencil. 4. With your drill and 3/4″ spade bit, drill a hole at your mark. Try to center the hole on your moulding. These holes will be for the bottom of your A-frame tent.
DIY KITCHENETTE
omgggggg this is sooo cute!! had to share! i really want to make one for my little sister Millie.
Handmade gifts are a really important part of our holiday tradition. I like to give things from the heart, and I feel really good about gifting something I’ve labored over. Don’t get me wrong. We do lots of store-bought presents as well, but the gifts I pour time and energy into always make me feel the proudest!
When the idea for a handmade kitchenette came about, I was immediately intrigued. I had several questions: Can we make a kitchenette that is functional so a child can actually play with it? Can we make it sturdy enough that I don’t have to worry about it falling on my kids? Even if I think it is cute, will it appeal to little ones? After Emma and I did some sketching and planning, this is where she came in and used her superpowers.The hard part was done for us since we had found this little rolling cabinet. It was the perfect size and we felt that with a few minor additions, it could become the kitchenette we were planning for. First we cut a peg board down, so that it was just tall enough to fit two play pans. Emma secured the peg board by creating a frame in the back of the unit with wood planks. She then added a shelf to the top of the pegboard and the side of the unit. This was done by screwing in a small plank of wood we cut to fit the unit. The wooden triangle pieces were then secured with liquid nails. She also removed the handle from the top drawer and added four wooden knobs with more liquid nails to be the oven controls. After we painted she also added two hooks on the other side of the unit for hanging play towels or aprons.
After Emma got the structure all put together, it was my job to paint and make it look like a play kitchen. I started with orange and white paints as my base and put a few coats on the whole thing. Once it was all painted and dry, I masked off a portion on the door to be the “oven window”. I painted that with chalkboard paint, and then used some of my extra chalkboard paint on the oven knobs as well.
The last step was creating the “burners”. I picked up some 6″ round wooden plaques. I first used my grey paint to cover the bottom side of each plaque. After the paint was dry, I used a compass to draw circles onto contact paper. I affixed the contact paper to the plaque and painted white between the contact circles. Once the white paint dried, I pulled the contact circles off and touched up the lines with a paint brush. I used gorilla glue to glue the “burners” down and put 3 coats of clear varnish over the entire “stove top”.
One of my very favorite parts of this kitchenette is that the door and the drawer from the original cart are still functional. The “oven door” opens up so they can “bake” their food, and the drawer is great storage. One of my biggest concerns was that the kitchen would be sturdy enough for real kiddo wear-and-tear. I’m happy to report that I have NO fears of this unit being top heavy or coming apart. It is extremely sturdy. (hooray!)
We are technically saving it for Christmas, but when I brought the kitchenette home to photograph, my kids went crazy for it. They played with it non-stop until bedtime, and then it magically disappeared into our basement until Christmas rolls around. I’m excited to pull it back out on Christmas morning and watch my 2 year old enjoy playing with that old rolling cart-turned-colorful kitchenette.
Cute little back pack tutorial!!!
from : http://hartandsew.blogspot.co.uk
Notes on what materials I used: I used duck cloth for the main body of my bag (the oatmeal and yellow fabric), if you choose to use a lighter-weight fabric you may want to add interfacing – even mine would have benefited from it although it’s fine. The geometric fabric I used on the flap is a vintage scrap I had on hand. Since it was a little bit see-through I backed it with a piece of duck cloth, otherwise you would have been able to see the magnetic snap backing through it. The bias tape is faux-leather. I bought all of the supplies (other than the geometric fabric) at Joann Fabrics.
1. Cut out pattern pieces in the fabric(s) of your choice.
– Cut four 13″x16″ pieces. They will be the main body of the backpack, two for the outside and two for the lining. On my backpack they are the oatmeal-colored fabric.
– Cut three 13″x9″ pieces. One of them will be the front pocket, on my backpack it is in yellow, and the other two will be the front and back of the flap, on my backpack they are in geometric print and yellow.
– Cut two 4″x5″ pieces. These are the loops on either side to hold the D-rings. On my backpack they are in yellow.
– Cut one 9″x6 1/2″ piece, or simply fold the 13″x9″ piece in half. This is the inside pocket, and the size may be altered depending on how big or small you would like the pocket. On my backpack it is in yellow on the inside.
2. Sew bias along top of outer pocket piece. Baste sides and bottom to right-side of outer front piece.
3. Take the loop pieces and fold them in half to form a crease down the middle, open it up then fold each side to the middle crease, then fold entire piece in half so only the ends are raw edges. Top stitch around all four sides. Put two metal D-rings on each loop and baste ends together. Baste finished loops to front piece on top of the front pocket facing in as pictured, 4 inches up from the bottom.
4. Using a protractor, round the bottom edges of the two flap pieces 2″ up and over.
5. Baste front and back flap pieces wrong-sides together, leaving the top open. Sew bias around sides and bottom.
6. Following the directions on the back of the magnetic snap packaging, insert the top half (or ‘male’ portion) where you would like them inside the flap, making sure they are on the bottom, or underside of the flap. Baste the top of the flap closed.
7. Baste handle and straps to the top of the right-side of the outer back piece. (Note: after I took these pictures I decided to move my straps in more as you may notice on the finished bag).
8. Using a 1/2″ seam allowance, sew flap across the top of the outer back piece, right-sides together. Press seam up.
9. Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, sew outer front and outer back pieces right-sides together around sides and bottom. Place the straps in the middle to avoid sewing them into the seams. Also make sure not to sew up onto the flap at the top of both sides – the front piece will be longer than the back piece at the top (see pictures), so you will be left with a little flap on front. Back-stitch when you go over the loops and bias of the front pocket to make them more secure. Flip bag right-side out and press all seams.
(Note: I changed my seam allowance to 1/4″ after these pictures were taken in order to widen the bag, the pictures show a 1/2″ seam allowance).
10. Add the bottom half (or ‘female’) portion of the magnetic snaps on the outer front piece where they need to be in order to match up with the top.
11. Add bias along the top of inside pocket. Iron the sides and bottom under. You can use a fabric pen and ruler to add lines for pockets, pencil slots, etc. as wanted. Sew onto right-side of back lining piece, back-stitching at the top of each line.
12. Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, sew front and back lining pieces right-sides together. Turn right-side out, press seams.
13. Add 1 1/2″ gussets to both outside bag and lining bag bottom corners. To do this turn the bags wrong-side out again, place your hand into the corner and flatten the corner into a triangle with the seam running down the middle. Using a ruler measure 1 1/2″ from the point where the seams meet down each side and draw a line straight across. Sew along this line. Press seam. You may also tack them down if you’d like, but don’t cut them off as they will help give shape and substance to the bottom of your backpack.
14. You now have an outer bag and inner lining bag. With right-sides together and the fronts and backs matched up (meaning the back of the outer bag is matched up to the back of the lining bag), stuff the outer bag into the lining bag, making sure the seam allowance of the flap is up. Using a1/2″ seam allowance, sew around the top leaving about a 6″ opening along the front.
15. Pull the outer bag out of the lining bag through the opening, and then flip the lining bag right-side out. Stuff the lining bag into place inside the outer bag.
16. Press the top seam, and hand stitch opening closed. Remove any baste stitches that may be showing along the seams.
17. Last, hem strap ends to prevent fraying. Thread them through the D-rings, adjusting length to fit.
The finished backpack measures about 12″ wide by15″ tall and about 2 1/4″ deep.
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