Mermaid Tail

Amelia's new favorite everything is Mermaids. At Disneyland her favorite ride was The Little Mermaid ride. She's obsessed with pretending to be "under the sea". I saw some ruffle fabric and had an idea to make a mermaid style skirt so she could pretend to be a mermaid. She insisted on purple fabric over green...1/4 yard of fabric and a half hour later she is singing " Under the sea" and swimming around!

Patterned Tights How-To

I've recently found myself (Since Lia was born really) salivating over adorable patterned tights. I think they are so cute, but I can't bring myself to spend $12.50 on a pair of polka dot tights that Lia will grow out of in a matter of months. I was painting a onesie the other day and had a light bulb moment....

PATTERN TIGHT HOW-TO

Start with a pair of tights and 4 pieces of freezer paper cut just wider and longer than each leg of the tights.

Step #1- Cut pattern out of the freezer paper. You are basically creating a stencil to paint.

(I just used scissors to cut circles for polka dot tights but you could use a cricut or x-acto knife to do really intricate designs.)

Step #2- Iron 2 pieces of freezer paper onto one side of the tight with a warm iron.

(Seriously, a barely warm iron so you don't melt your tights.)

Step #3- Paint in your design with your favorite color and brand of fabric paint.

Step #4- Gently peel off freezer paper and let the paint dry according to package directions.

Step #5- When dry, turn tights over and repeat steps 2-4 with the other set of freezer paper stencils.

Result: Awesome patterned tights that cost almost nothing...seriously, I made these with supplies I already had...but even if you buy everything it will be less than those expensive store bought tights and you will have supplies to make many more!

New Chair!

I've been wanting a cool chair that I can use at the desk in the living room (instead of a folding chair) and for my photography.

I paid $15 for this chair that I found at a little antique store. It's solid oak, but was really gross and dusty.

I painted it with a can of sample paint ($3), switched out the foam and fabric on the seat ($4) and voila! I love my new chair!

I'm going to take the kids out and take some pictures when they wake up from their naps. Check back to see them soon!

Day 23: T-shirt Re-do

My photo's for today (as part of my challenge to photograph everyday) are of a project inspired by THIS and THIS.

Remember me complaining about my ruined clothes that have blue spots from the washing machine? (You can read the post here.) Well, I saw these 2 shirts (above) in the D.I. bag the other day and had an idea. It turned out great and didn't take very long at all!

1. Cut out a section of shirt.

2. Fold it in 4's and cut out squiggly shapes. I had 2 area's of blue spots that I was trying to cover on my shirt. I used 1 large (about 3 inches) piece and 2 small (1.5 inch piece) pieces on the top and 3 large and 2 small pieces along the bottom...You'll see what I'm talking about in a minute.

3. Pinch the bottom of the piece you cut out and open the top into a flower.

4. Arrange on the shirt and hand stitch onto wherever you want it.

5. Turn inside out and iron on a scrap of interfacing. This step is optional, but I did it to make sure my stitching doesn't come undone...Especially on the bottom because I'm always pulling my shirts down.6. Add a little bling! Again, this step is optional, but it makes it a little more fun, and covers any stitches that might be showing. I have a hot fix tool for rhinestones, but you could also use iron on rhinestones.

Done!

Didn't cost anything, and saved some shirts from the thrift store bag!

Day 16

This morning Amelia had her 15 months check-up. Everything is looking great. She is back into a steady growth pattern weighing in at 20.6 lbs (15 th percentile) and measuring 31 inches tall (75th percentile). She also got a few vaccinations and she is grumpy already...

I just received this adorable fabric in the mail from a girl who wants a few car seat covers! I'm excited to get started on them! Today will just be sewing, and taking care of Amelia.

Day 8

It's not quite July, but I saw THIS PROJECT, loved it, and made my own with materials I had around my house. Free and easy projects are my fav! (I just printed "celebrate" on the paper I used instead of using vinyl lettering. I decided to not put "Happy 4th of July" because in Utah, we also celebrate Pioneer Day on the 24th of July.)

It only took me about an hour and that included the time it took to open the box and assemble the circular saw Brian got for Christmas a few years ago!

I love the pop of color on my bookshelf next to my favorite books!
*Photographers note*-- Arranging still life is sometimes more difficult than getting a kid to look at you and smile!

Coleson's Art

There is a really cool website called Fine Doodles.com that takes a picture that your kid draws and paints it onto a canvas. (Check out their photo gallery sometime because it is really cool.) Although what they do is awesome, I didn't want to spend $75 on one of their paintings, so using all materials I already had I made my own.

Coleson drew this picture of our family.

Then together, we painted it. It's now proudly displayed in our living room and Coleson is ecstatic. I'm not much of a painter...my shading especially needs work...but it's colorful and we did it together so I love it!

Check it out:

My accessories blog is being featured!!! I love Pink Nothings and am so excited about it!

Finished

New dress for Amelia finished!

Hope everyone has a great Easter! I'm looking forward to a fun and relaxing conference weekend!

Copy Cat!

Last summer at Swiss Days my cousin Mandi and I saw and loved this little girl dress:

Look what I found at the fabric store today:

SO EXCITED! Now we just have to find/create a pattern and we'll have super cute copy cat dresses!

While shopping with said cousin this weekend at local boutiques we kept seeing and admiring all kind of chunky beaded necklaces. Neither of us bought any because they were all around $50. I found a new bead shop today, and made a great copy cat for just under $10! Love it! I know what the "Easter bunny" is putting in my basket this year!

Finished Headboard

Finally got our headboard put up today. I'm not going to lie, Brian did most of the work. Thanks hun! Also, thanks to my friend Ashley for giving us a set of cleat hangers to mount it on the wall with!

Put one set of hangers on the back of the headboard...

Drill the other set into the wall, being very careful to make sure they are all level...

and Ta-da!

I love, love, love, it!

HEADBOARD!

I finally did it! I made an upholstered headboard for my room. I've been wanting to do it for so long, but was really intimidated. It was pretty easy and quick, and I love the way it turned out!

The guy at Lowe's cut the board to the size I needed.

Fabric, batting, and foam get lined up under the mdf board.

Then I went at it with the staple gun!

The hardest part for me was getting to corners to look the way I wanted.

I nailed in some nail head trim. I only hit my thumb twice!

Ta-Da! I'll post a picture of the finished product when we get it hung on the wall in our room!

Fabric: about $20 using 50% off coupon at JoAnn's ( I bought it so long ago I don't remember how much exactly)

Batting: $4.80 on sale for 50% off + 10% off coupon at JoAnn's

Foam: $27 at Hobby Lobby (I waited and waited for a coupon and of course they didn't put one out until the week after I finally caved and bought it without a coupon!)

MDF: $5.60 using 10% off coupon and a few dollars left on a gift card at Lowe's

Nail head Trim: $9.60 using 40% off coupon at JoAnn's

Total: Around $70

That's pretty awesome, considering the headboards like this that inspired me to do this project retail for around $1000! Plus, I have leftover mdf, batting, and nail head trim if anyone wants to give this project a try!

*Special thanks to everyone who has made purchases from my blog which financed this project!*

Getting Crafty

I recently came across an awesome blog that had great ideas and tutorials so I've been getting crafty.

I found instructions for these cute tie shirts for all those baby boys about to be born! (Yes, sorry to ruin the surprise but if you're having a boy you'll probably be getting one of these.)

I also used their idea for Coleson's Valentine's Day cards. Yes, I am the mother who is sending left-over Christmas candy to my kid's Valentine's party!

Seriously, check this blog out: Crap I've Made

Check it out...

This is what I've been up to:

accessoriebylindsey.blogspot.com

Newest Project

I got a great idea for Lia's room HERE. So...

I found these frames at the D.I. in Pocatello...

Spray painted them...

Added some batting, fabric, and ribbon...

And now Amelia has a photo gallery wall with funky frames...

And a new bow/picture holder that matches the style of her room perfectly! I had so much fun with this project. Total cost: about $10.00!