zebra jammies

Last spring I made 2 pairs of jammies for Laura. They are her favorite. She is constantly asking to wear her "giraffe" and "kitty cat" jammies. So, when I saw this old tank top sitting in my bin of clothes to be recycled, I decided it would be perfect for some zebra jammies.


I cut up a pair of Laura's leggings that had holes in them and used them for a pattern for the pants. I used some pink knit from an ugly dress also in the "to be recycled" bin, to make a shirt.






She loves them. And I love that they were free.

Total Cost: Free

My new bed-

Or at least new bed spread. I decided when I came home from New Hampshire that I hated my bedroom and that I've always hated it ever since we moved here. I was trying to decide why it was so ugly. I figured out it was the bed spread. We have this velvety red/maroon blanket that we bought at Costco when we first got married. We paid almost $100 bucks for it. I don't know what I was thinking. But that was before I had a sewing machine. I thought you had to spend that kind of money for a bed spread. Well, at least I could've bought a cute one. This one was something you would expect to see at your Grandmother's house. Good quality, but lacking all cuteness whatsoever. So, I decided to change that. I looked at Anthropology for ideas and found two bed spreads that I loved. The one that I absolutely adored had fabric flowers sewn all over it. I knew I couldn't hope to recreate it with out it looking like a cheap craft project gone wrong. So I decided to try to copy the other one. I love how it turned out.






Here's how I did it: I bought four sheets at an estate sale. (Yes, they are used sheets, and if that grosses you out then I'm sorry. I did wash them! If I had to buy new sheets I couldn't have afforded to make it.) I sewed 2 sheets together lengthwise. I drew horizontal lines every nine inches with a disappearing ink pen. Then I just gathered the fabric as I sewed. When I had all the gathering complete (And I wanted to rip out all my hair at this point) I sewed over the gathered seams with some bias tape that I found at a yard sale several months back. Then I cut the remaining sheet to fit the size of the duvet that I had and sewed the gathered cover to this sheet right sides together, leaving an opening to turn it right side out and slide in the duvet cover. I finished by sewing 2 pillow shams with the same gathering technique and then 2 throw pillows with some lace that I also found at a garage sale.

Super easy! And I am not the only one who is enjoying my big, fluffy, new cloud.


Cost: 4 used sheets: $2.50
2 spools of thread: $3 (I used a lot of thread for this project!)
Bias Tape: $0.25
Lace: $0.25

Total Cost of duvet cover and 4 pillows: $6.00

Backpacks for Laura's twin cousins

Laura has the cutest twin cousins ever. Unfortunately they live on the other side of the country and we don't get to see them very often. When we saw them last May, I kept thinking how much fun it would be to have twins and make matching clothing and accessories. So, for their birthday I made them some matching backpacks using a pattern I found here: http://indietutes.blogspot.com/2009/10/toddler-backpack-pattern.html
I used this pattern to make a packpack for Laura for her 2nd birthday. She loves it. She loves to put her snacks and stuffed animals in it so she can take them with her wherever we go. Now she keeps talking about her cousins, Zoie and Eliza, and their backpacks.

Trees

We just got back from a very fun summer spent in New Hampshire. I lived less than an hour away from my sister, her five kids, and her big house that she just moved in to. I don't know what was more fun: spending time with my sister or decorating her house. (She is pregnant with #6 and is under doctor's orders to be off her feet most of the day. Unfortunantly for her, and fortunantly for me, that means that she needed someone to help with home decor projects in their beautiful new home.)

This was one of my favorite things we did:

I got the idea from this blog: http://thelovelylittlethings.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.htm.
I drew the trees with a pencil on the wall and then filled it in with white paint. I think it turned out so cute. I want to do some in Laura's room. Do you think my landlord would appreciate some free tree artwork in his home?

We painted this bench yellow and made some pillows for it that matched the quilt that we made for their bed.