New Clips

I got all fancy and made some clip on earrings! 

I've done this flower design before, 

last year around Christmas time 

I made some studs and named them my Clara Earrings. 

I've been wanting to make some into clips 

because I know a few people who love earrings 

but don't have their ears pierced.

Well, I'm happy to say they actually turned out, 

and they made a great gift for my moms bday!

Clara Earrings, clip style.

Mens Shirt to Skirt

I helped my super cute sis in law make a skirt from a mens shirt. We went to the thrift store and found an uber cheap shirt, and started cutting away! We found a couple of really great tutorials to give us some sort of direction, one of my favorites was this one. Going off of that tutorial, I just kinda made it up as we went!

We cut as close to the edges when taking off the sleeves 

so we had as much fabric as possible to play with for around the hips.

Same with the length, we cut across the back at the seam, 

and cut the front even with the back at the top. 

We used the extra fabric from the sleeves along with the cuffs for the waist band, 

and we put them together something like this for the front opening of the skirt.

Here is how it turned out:

Toddler Shirt

This. is. adorable. 

My mom got me this big chunk of fabric while she was in town last so I cold make a bunch of summer outfits for my little G. I love the orange, it's so bright and happy and, well, summery. I found this tutorial for the "Leah Shirt" and absolutely fell in love with it. Starting off with my pieces all cut out, I followed Jess's directions and just guessed at the sizing. I sort of traced one of miss G's shirts that fits her right now and crossed my fingers that my pieces would end up the right size.  It worked pretty well.

I made my own biased tape that was smaller than regular biased tape, I didn't want the edging to be the focus of this shirt. Regular biased tape seemed to be a little too overwhelming for how small the shirt is.

Keyhole back

And, of course, the yo-yo embellishment

I think I'll end up making about 27 of these shirts before I get tired of them... 

They are so easy and so so so sweet.

Special Occasion: Little Purple Dress

This is the cute little dress that I ended up making for miss G for my sisters wedding. All of the nieces in the family were in the same dress, and they were so adorable! Cute little purple girls running around. My sisters picked up the fabric and pattern, and sent it to me to assemble since we are in different states.

I'd have to say that it turned out better than I was imagining... 

I haven't sewn anything silky or satiny. 

The fabric did slide around a bit, but the pattern was easy enough 

it didn't really bother me at all.

My favorite part is the ruffles on the bottom of the dress. They are so sweet.

Manicure Night

We were lucky enough to join a babysitting co-op 

amongst a bunch of our friends near where we live.

*Genius Idea*

  There are quite a few couples involved, so each couple signs up for a Friday night to provide babysitting to the rest of the couples for an official "date night". Some couples have teeny babies, some couples have older kiddos who can help out so it works amazingly well. The week that was our turn we ended up having more big kids than little, so I got out the nail polish. The little ladies loved it, and I think the poor little 2 year old boy did too, even though he was a little camera shy with his painted nails from his sisters!

Special Occasion: Purple

Well, here is the long awaited for reveal of one thing that I made for my sisters wedding. You know how sometimes you spend an hour or more trying to make something really creative and cute and it turns out looking like an art project from 1st grade? That's how it turned out. I made a pair of earrings for myself to wear. I needed something purple and pretty, and didn't want to spend much.  I didn't spend a penny, they turned out purple, but they sure didn't turn out pretty....back to the drawing board! Round two went much smoother, and they took about 15 minutes. I love it when that happens! Except for the previous hour that went down the drain. Lesson learned. Simplify.

New Earring Design

I came up with some new earrings this week

using what I already had in my craft stash

I used my old beads

that I've never even thought of using

because they were u-hu-gly.

Drab to Fab with these babies, for sure.

I also used some of my hand me down fabric 

from my Grandma  last summer.

I really love how these turned out,

they are just in time for spring and summer!

I also started a facebook page for {MDD} to see if we can get more people involved in our link up parties in the future. (There's one starting tomorrow!) So, go ahead and "like" this website right over there on my sidebar----> (and scroll down) and get the word spreading around. Or just push "like" so I feel like somebody actually read this all the way to the end. 

Bless your heart.

<

Fashion Show

 I was able to go to a really great fashion show for the seniors in the design program at the U of Minnesota. They did such a good job, I loved seeing their work! Here are a few of my favorites from the night (besides the really cool people that I got to go with!!):

 Boho Chic style, the whole line was interesting. I loved the colors.

Awesome hair... it was gorgeous in real life  

 Loved the red skirt!! 

It was a bubble skirt when she came on the runway. 

Then she took off this belt, and voila, it turned into this elegant piece!

Bubble Collar, anyone? (There were lights in each of the bubbles...)   

Love this girl (hubby's super cute cousin, go M!) 

Opening in the back of the jacket 

   Mostly just liked the hair on this one. 

Not much can be said about pointy shoulders...

I really liked this line as well, it had a nice touch of romance going on. 

And of course the hair was great!

The evening was so much fun. It was nice to be out doing something way out of the ordinary. The venue was perfect for people watching, one of my absolute most favorite past times!

Lucky for You

Even though I've been married for three years, I would still consider myself a novice to all of this domesticness    (spell check just told me that's not a real word... oh well) going on around here. For example, knitting a pair of baby booties. I've seen it done. I have the skills. I just haven't done it yet (well, hadn't, anyway). That's where the lucky you part comes in. You get to see the very first pair that I've ever knitted in my entire life!

They turned out so great! I was so excited about these adorable little shoes that I decided to alter the pattern a little and come up with a design that was just a tad different. "What is that?" said hubby nodding in the direction of my 'new design' that was complete. "I have no idea!" I said as I gracefully flung it into the trash can. It was Uh.Gly. And so, dearest reader, that is why all of these pictures are of the same one pair of booties. That same pair that I made for the very first time in my life. Lucky you!

Earrings

I am so in love with making earrings! My little sister got me hooked. She has always had a gazillion beads while we were growing up, and she has always collected them. Then a couple years ago she started making the cutest jewelry, and I couldn't resist joining the bead crowd! I love being able to make a pair of earrings to match any outfit for whatever look I am going for. To top it off, I can easily have more than five pairs of earrings without spending tons of money! My favorite trick of my sisters lately is to buy the earrings that have two or more big pieces on each earring, she takes them apart and makes more earrings out of all the pieces.  I haven't done that yet, but I plan to once I get over my bead addiction (pictured above). It's such an easy way to make really trendy (and not cheap) looking earrings. Love it!!

Pretty Purses

I made matching purses for my daughter and her friend who I was babysitting. These two little toddlers absolutely loved running around finding treasures to put in and out of their pretty new bags! I used a pair of my husbands old jeans. I lined the inside with the same fabric I made flowers out of, and I didn't do a latch or a zipper on the top so they could get treasures in and out easier. I used the thick inside seam from the leg of the jeans for the purse straps. These little bags turned out so cute!