New hats!

I made a couple of hats a little while ago.  I used a tutorial I found from Maybe Matilda for the curly-cues.

I made two matching ones for a baby and her big sister.

I think it looks pretty cute on Lotte!

No Nonsense November--Let the CRAFTING begin

My list is nailed down.

My budget is set.

Let the CRAFTING begin.

I'm going to start by showing off THE. GREATEST. YARD. SALE. FIND. EVER.

Here is one of Lotte's {and I guess eventually Brother too} Christmas gifts.

It was on the side of the highway at a Ghhheeetooooeeee yard sale.

I made the Mister turn the car around immediately.

It is real wood, handmade and in EXCELLENT condition.

{sink with movable faucet and "dog dish" sink}

The man said he is asking $140 for all three pieces.  I said "No, but we could do $100."

{stove with plexi glass on oven and microwave, turning knobs and shelf inside oven}

He said, "SOLD!"

{I started taking the fridge apart to paint before my "before" picture...but it also has 2 shelves inside}

With a little A LOT of help from my mom we were able to take it home.

So I have worked a bit this weekend and will continue this week to doll this beauty up to its full potential.

HERE is my Pinterest Board "Pimped Play Kitchen" that I have started in order to gather some of my ideas for all of the kitchen goodies.  Do you have anything I should add?  I LOVE good kitchen finds!

Making life simple! Cutting tulle the FAST way!

So I recently have made two tutus!  One for an order and one for Lotte's Halloween costume.

For the Halloween costume, I bought tulle off of the bolt.  It is so much cheaper, and for Lotte, it's okay if it isn't perfectly cut.  I went to youtube and searched "cutting tulle from bolt"  there was a super great video tutorial HERE and I LOVE this lady because she saved me a BUNCH of time and effort.

I made the lady bug tutu before and didn't think about youtube-ing of googling the fast way to cut tulle from the spool.  So I think I'm pretty GENIUS for coming up with this.

I wanted an 8 inch tutu for a one year old.  So I cut a piece of cardboard 16 inches long {doubled}.  I made sure that it was wider than 6 inches.

I started the tulle at the very top of the cardboard and just simply flipped it around and around and around until the entire spool was wrapped around the cardboard.

I then took scissors and cut through all the layers of tulle at both the top and the bottom of the board.

I removed the board and had a beautiful and neat stack of tulle the exact length that I needed it for my tutu.

This made it super easy to keep the tulle really straight and "fresh".  I didn't want to send it out all rumply and crumply.

I hope this helps you shave time and hassle off of your tutu endeavors!

I'm linking up to these awesome hostesses this week!  Thank you ladies!!
Show and Tell @ Blue Cricket Design

Kid Gifts

I have a few things for my kids that I am going to be making.  The first up on my list is our new play kitchen.  We re-loved an old used one last year.  Lotte has been playing with it all year.  But last week we scored the biggest yard sale find EVER!  It's a new 3 piece wooden handmade kitchen.  I'll do a whole separate post and reveal later!

Here are some of the things that I have found around the internet that I plan on making as well.

Lotte LOVES to use a pop up tent in the living room for "movie night".

This one is compact, easy to make and adorable to boot!

This guy is going to be super easy to make.  I know that we will have lots of fun, especially now that Lotte is really using her imagination.  If this is as easy as I'm thinking, we might make one for a friend's daughter too!

THIS is from a series Skip to my Lou is doing.  You should check out the rest of her gift ideas!

These are too easy not to make.

Here is how Stitching in the Dark made hers.

This is going to be for my 2 older nieces.

HERE is the tutorial for what it all includes.

I also see some felt food in my future as my niece is getting our "old" kitchen for Christmas, and Lotte's bestie is getting a kitchen too.  There are sooo many patterns and coolness out there for felt food.

I'm sure as I spend the next day or two hammering out my list my gifts will get more narrowed down, and I'll maybe find some new ones.

What are you making for the kids?

*Spoiler Alert* Friend Gifts

If you are a close real-life friend or family member...PLEASE avert your eyes!  I'm going to be posting some of my favorite ideas for gifts and you might find out what you are getting.

I have a friend or two who would like this gift.

You Can Make This has a free pattern for this darling apron!

This one is for my adult girly cousins.

HERE is an awesome tutorial for making a braided scarf from t-shirts!

I definitely need to make a cute pincushion and personalized pins for my crafty friends.

HERE is a free pattern.

And No Big Dill has a tutorial on personalized push pins.

Co-worker gifts.  So easy and useful.

Here is a free tutorial.

These will be for some of my friend couples.

Everything Etsy has a cute roundup of embroidery hoop art.

Well if you are a "real-life friend" and read through this anyway, do you have any requests?

Is it fall yet?

Everyone says it...and I'm following along...IS IT FALL YET?!?!


To get me more in the mood, I want to share my FAVORITE fall thing I have ever made.  No not just the cutest little girl, but the hat too!

It's Lotte's candy corn hat.  When I made it with just the white, yellow and orange it looked too boyish so I added a little knitted flower.

She wore this hat her entire first fall season.  I loved that hat!  I'm going to make one for Brother without the cute little flourish.  I'm also probably going to make her another one this year.  It is just too cute not to!

Do you want one?  I might stick one in the unused Etsy shop.  If you want one, I would be more than happy to make one for you.  Let me know! :)

I love you all year round...a quick easy gift

I made these for my mother and father's birthday a few weeks ago.  I let Lotte help decorate them.

I started with a brown lunch sack and plain cardstock cut to fit neatly underneath the folded flap.  I drew on a calendar for each page (you could easily print one out, but we don't have a working printer) and I let Lotte color them up.  I put a smaller piece of cardstock on the top to sign it and color.

Here are my favorite pages she colored.

 {circles}

{and lines}

They turned out pretty cute and my rents liked them a lot.  Just like I said...QUICK and EASY.

Play Tents for some Dramatic Play

I've been thinking of making a play tent for Little Lotte for a Christmas gift this year. {YES I'm already thinking about Christmas...you should too!}

Here are some of the inspirations and tutorials that I have found from here there and everywhere around the internet.

Miss Pretty Pretty has absolutely the most AMAZING selection of imaginative play tents and materials E.V.E.R.  I love looking at all the inspiration.  Check out some of these...

Here is a great tutorial for a circus table tent from Old Days Old Ways.  I love the edging on this house!

THIS is a different kind of tent.  It attaches to your dining room table with ribbons for easy removal when you need to use your table for something like eating rather than imagination.

You have to see this Perfect Princess Pavilion from ikatbag.  I love the use of the top for dollies.  Make use of that wasted space.

Should I make a completely PVC frame or use a card table with one of these PVC Toppers for a roof from Obsessively Stiching?

I also like the suspension style for outside or for a reading nook inside.  2 Little Hooligans has an easy as punch tutorial to follow.

I could make it look like this $350 tent.

A Wedding Shower Gift

I made this cutie a while ago for a sweet little girl who is getting married in August!  She is like a little sister and I wanted to make her something special.  

It is made out of crepe paper rosettes!  A LOT of crepe paper rosettes.  I almost didn't get it finished before it was time to go to the shower.  I only had a minute to snap a few shots of the wreath. 

And after taking the picture I realized I was missing a little "flag" on the bunting.  So the finished product has an extra green flag on the left.

I can't wait for her wedding!  I'm so happy that she has found someone that makes her "complete"!