Beauty and the Beast

I found this cute tutorial on how to make a Belle dress at Crafterhours a few weeks ago.  I bookmarked it, knowing I wanted to make it some time.  Recently, the school that I teach at put on the play, Beauty and the Beast and that gave me the motivation to get it done.  I basically followed the instructions as given.  I added a few more panels since my girl is older and I used just white cotton that I had on hand for the swags and an old knit shirt for the collar.  Here is the final product!

wall art

I was talking to my friend about my huge blank wall in my house.  We've been here about 9 months and it has constantly been bugging me.  She suggested a group of three prints from Life Expressions - which makes some really cute signs with vinyl letters and designs, but of course, I thought I could try and make it myself first.  This is what I came up with.  I found these 12 in by 12 in picture frames at Michael's and then found some scrapbook paper that I liked.  I actually just bought three of the same print and rotated them to give a different look.  I saved more than half of what it would have been and now I can change it out with various paper or even fabric as the seasons change!

gathered clutch (brown)

My sister-in-law has been one of my best customers.  I have made this gathered clutch from Noodlehead before.  I kept this one nice and simple with a plain background and a polka-dot pattern as an accent.  

baby boy mini-blanket

Now that I have actually figured out how to sew with knit fabric (who knew how important a change of needle could be?), I was able to finish this mini-blanket.  It had been pinned and started a couple of times, but it kept bunching up or skipping stitches so I put it away.  Almost a year later, I finished it in about 5 minutes.  I think I will just hold on to it for a few more months to see if it can be used by our baby in July.  If not, I've got enough pregnant friends now that some little baby boy will be using it sooner or later!

Ruffle skirt

I have had this fabric in my stash for over a year.  I got it at a clearance sale at Field's and figured someday I could make something for my daughter - she was actually the one that picked it out.  Ruffles are pretty popular so I thought I would try a simple ruffle at the bottom of a skirt.  She was impressed, but then I added some buttons with "jewels" in them (found at a thrift shop with other random pieces for 50¢!) to the flower. I even added my label - but it was so she knew which side was the back so the flower would be in the front!

Spring art

I found this idea on a blog named Oopsey Daisy a few weeks ago and thought it was a perfect craft for me.  I have tried my hand at various types of flowers (with fabric, felt, ribbon, etc.) and knew I already had that part of the project done.  All I had to do was find some green ribbon scraps and put it all together.  Most of the flowers are sewn on, but some are glued (for example, the red tulip is actually a barrette I had made so I just glued it on!).

maternity t-shirt refashion

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I figured this year I needed to find a new green shirt to wear since my maternity stash did not have any.  I found this shirt at a thrift store for 50¢ and even though it says Scotland on it, I figured it would work well for St. Patty's Day.  I just wanted it to be more fitted than the baggy men's XL shirt that it was.  So, I flipped it inside out, took in the sides, shortened the sleeves and added some elastic to the sides to "rouch" them and make it more fitted.  I think it looks pretty good - I like the look of this better than baggy shirts that just hang on my belly anyway.  Now to try it with some other shirts...