From Playroom to Kiddy Office

When house hunting years ago ,I loved that our home had an extra room downstairs that could be used as a playroom for the boys ( Lucy was still a hope in my heart ;) ) and would eliminate a huge amount of toys being in their room. Well FOUR years have passed, and my toddlers are now school age, and my princess prefers to play in her room. So I was left with a cutely decorated room, thats only purpose was toy storage. Very rarely did the kids even enter the room, and the toys within sat untouched until we had friends over, This really annoyed me, and I decided it needed to change. After contemplating what we could do with it without having to buy furniture or paint the walls again, I decided it would become a room for the kids to do homework, sort school papers, and store backpacks and such. So I begged my sweet husband to build a desk, and I started the task of going through ALL THOSE TOYS! Well we pulled it off, and it is exactly what I hoped for! We still have plans to add a reading nook using a pallet, and hubs is building a dress up storage unit, which makes me as excited as I could be! So here it is, the Kiddy Office:

Sorry these pictures are so awful! My camera is having some lens issues and is not cooperating with me lately! Here is a close up of bulletin boards:

 We also decided to add a magnet board to the room. We have stainless appliances, so my kids have never had magnets before. Lucy LOVES this thing, she has been playing with it non stop! I am contemplating painting it with chalkboard paint, but the mess factor worries me a little.

So there is what we have for now. The kids were over the moon, and I love that my kitchen table is no longer covered in paper and folders!!
Happy Weekend!!!

Upcycle Success

My Sister has a yellow carigan:

 

Isn't is cute! Isn't she cute! I love my sister so much, and I LOVE her yellow cardigan. I decided I needed one, but I know she has had it for a while, and I am sure it is no longer availalbe. So I searched and searched online, but the only ones I could find were mustard yellow , I will tell you that mustard yellow must be VERY in right now, because it is everywhere. I was about to give up, but then I had a fabulous idea, buy a white one and dye it yellow! With key in hand, I was about to head to the thrift store, when something told me to check my upcycle bin. I am so glad I did because low and behold I already owned a dingy, stained white cardigan..SCORE! I also already had yellow dye.. DOUBLE SCORE!

So here it was, my old cast of Cardi:

Now it is a (sorta) new sunny yellow Cardi, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE, for the cost of FREE!

 If you have never tried dyeing, you should! It is SO easy, so so easy. This is a fantastic tutorial, in fact this is fantastic blog overall.
I am beyond excited about it! In fact, I will be wearing it today, because we are having lovely weather here in AZ and I plan to be out in it! Thanks for stopping by, Happy Monday!!!!

Frakenstein Costume Tutorial

HAPPY Monday! It was another normal day around the Kimery house. The boys headed to school, and Bobby had an errand to run. I did some laundry, watched Pan Am (is anyone else watching this show, I LOVE it), and put dinner in the crock pot. We had Chicken Tortilla Soup, and not only did I not burn it, it was sooooo good!

I have almost completed my Christmas shopping for the boys, and have been thinking of what to get Lucy. Santa had planned on bringing her this, but I after seeing her sit and play with a dollhouse at the party yesterday, I think Santa's plans have changed. I am looking for a wooden one, and on the shorter side. I have found some gorgeous taller ones, but I'm afraid they would tower over tiny Lucy! Hopefully we can find something perfect for her! Until then she will have to continue using her brothers Imaginext Firehouse instead... haha!

Today I am going to share a tutorial as well! Aiden wanted to be Frankenstein for Halloween. I started to look for costumes that were more cute then creepy, as cute is a lot more Aiden's personality. I found this one:

There were a few problems. A. It doesn't come big enough for him, and B. I was not about to pay $28.00, seeing as we had a suit and undershirt (that I scored from Goodwill for $3..whoot whoot) and all we needed to purchase was a headpiece. As I looked at this more, I thought "I can make this!" So that is what I did, and here is how it turned out:

Now I am going to give you the play by play so you can make one too!!

The first thing I did was draft a pattern. It may sound intimidating but it isn't, I promise. The pattern consists of four pieces:

In addition to the pattern pieces, I also cut out some accent pieces. I cut 2 1 inch wide rectangles that were as long as the top of the main head piece out of black felt. Then cut it to look like Frank's hair. I made a lightning bolt shape out of red felt, a thin strip from black felt and there small grey rectangles to look like stitching.

The last thing I cut was 4 T shapes out of grey felt for the knobs, sewed them together and stuffed them a little. 

Okay so once you have drawn the pattern and cut out your pieces, it's time to sew!

The first thing you want to do is sew the hair to the head piece. I went around every individual v shape for security.

Repeat this for the other hair and head pieces. Then you can look at the two and decide which head piece you would like to use for the face side. I chose the one with neater looking hair v's :)! When you have chosen  you will sew your accent pieces onto that piece (now it becomes the front head piece), and set the back head piece aside for later. When done you will have something similar to this:

Next you will want to sew the lining piece to the wrong side of the front head piece It is sort of difficult to see in this picture, but just lay it on top of the wrong side, and sew up the two vertical sides.

Now turn the piece back over so the right side is facing you, and line your face opening piece up in the center.

Cut around your pattern piece, being sure you cut through both the main and lining pieces. This will leave a hole where your child's face will go. Topstich around the opening.

Now take the back head piece you set aside and put it on top of the front head piece right sides together, adding the knobs we made earlier where the x's are in the photo. The knobs should be sandwiched between the two head pieces. (I forgot to add the knobs and had to go back and add them later, so some of the picture moving forward may not have them.) Now you can sew the two sides. 

The next step is to attach the crown to the top opening of the head piece. Carefully pin to the top and sew around.

Now you can flip the whole thing right side out and it should look like this (with the knobs being where the x's are):

I stuffed the crown a little for shape using polyfil, then pulled the lining pieces out and added a couple stitches in the center to hold the polyfil in. (This is where I ran into trouble. The lining piece made the whole thing to tight for my son, and I ended up having to go back and sew an extra piece of felt to the inside. I think adding some inches to the lining will help you avoid this.)

Push the lining back into the crown and Voila you are done! Put in on your sweet little Frankie and admire your craftiness!

 If you have any questions, I would love to answer them! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!!

Weekend Randoms and the Floating Ghost Tutorial

Hello! We had a relaxing and fun weekend around here. We didn't do much, just decorated for Halloween and lazied around all day yesterday! Today we went to a first birthday party for a sweet little guy, which was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious!!!

A few weeks ago we were at Target and Aiden saw this stuffed animal crab, and was so bummed when I refused to spend $6 on it! I told him we would make one together, and yesterday we did just that! We also made Jakey a little spider as well. The boys helped cut, were so excited when we finished their new little buddies!

Yesterday I said I would show you how to make a floating ghost for Halloween decor, so here is a mini tutorial. 



So for this you will need cheesecloth or another gauzy fabric, a 2 liter soda bottle, a foam ball (usually in the floral section at the craft store), 2 sticks, 3-4 other bottles ( we used beer bottles, mostly because involving beer makes my husband much more interested in helping me with crafts), and some spray starch.

Step 1- Build your frame thingy (I don't know what else to call it) by pushing the foam ball into the two liter, and making small holes for the sticks.
Step 2- Drape the cloth over the frame, and put the other bottles around the sides (see picture)
Step 3- Spray the whole thing with starch. Be sure to press some to the floor and spray it well, as this is what will support him. Coat it all well, and let dry overnight.
Step 4- In the morning gently pull it away from the frame, add some felt eyes and a mouth and place him on a shelf or any flat surface!

Tips:

1. Make sure it is ventilated where you spray, you will be using quite a bit and it gets strong.

2. The cloth should feel stiff in the morning, if it does not then so another coat of starch and let dry.

3. Do this on a floor that can handle being sprayed with starch, such as tile or concrete. We did it on our tile and it mopped up fine the next day.

4. When packing up the Halloween decor, fold the head of ghost inward, I did this and it was still pretty well shaped when I took it out this year. It made it simple to put over the frame and know where everything goes. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!!

The Ever Changing Pumpkin

I have not blogged in a while, a long while. However I am blogging today! It is still warm here in Sunny Arizona, none the less, in this home fall has officially arrived! I have some fun tutorials coming up, but today I am going to share some ideas for pumpkins!

Last year I really wanted to decorate for Halloween. I didn't want cheesy and I didn't want to spend $500 on all the stuff I was drooling over in the Potter Barn catalog. I was flipping through a Martha Stewart Living (LOVE her) at the dentist office, and I saw some pictures of pumpkins masquerading as other Halloween favorites! So I decided to try my hand and make a few of my own. Here is what I came up with

Well, October 31st came and passed and my cute white pumpkins were still in great shape. I couldn't just throw them out (gasp!!), so instead they became a Pilgrim and an Indian for Thanksgiving. I seriously LOVE these two... they made me smile every time I saw them!

The Turkey was carved, and all the scarecrows and leaves got packed away to make room for Santa and his crew of friends. My little pumpkins however, were in great shape. Still, fall was gone, and pumpkins were SO last season.. :) :)!! I was just about to throw them out, and my Mom had a brilliant idea. I had also bought a fairytale pumpkin around Halloween, so my Mom took it outside and spray painted it white, piled the other two on top, and with that pumpkin snowman was born! I knitted him a little scarf, and found a Magician top hat in the dress up bin, and he was good to go!

Believe it or not those pumpkins made it all the way to Christmas day! I just bought two white pumpkins today, and tomorrow they willl be rockin' the first of their costumes! To my delight I also saw that they now have white fairytale pumpkins at Trader Joe's, no need to spray paint! I hope my pumpkins hang in as long as last year's did! Happy Fall Crafting!!!!!
(P.S. Did you see that floating ghost in the Halloween pics, a tutorial for him is on the way tommorow!!)

The Malibu Barbie Skirt Tutorial

When I emailed the photo of this skirt to my sister she said " I love it! It reminds me of the beach and Barbie clothes." So here it is "The Malibu Barbie Skirt" Tutorial!:

This is a SUPER easy skirt and takes under an hour to make!

Supplies:

All you need-Fabric, lining fabric, 2" elastic, scissors or a rotary cutter, measuring tape, a giant safety pin, and pins!

First thing you need to do is measure yourself ( or whomever you are sewing for :). I wanted the skirt to sit right above my hip bones, so I measured around my waist at that point. Write down this measurement. Now decide how long you want the skirt to be.. I wanted mine to be about 15 inches when worn.

Now it is time to cut! The width of your fabric will be 1.5 x your waist measurement.

For the length you need to do a little more math- aren't you excited! We are using 2" elastic and making a bottom hem. So we will add those to the desired length. Here is my math

15" (desired length) + 2.5" (elastic casing) + 2" ( bottom hem) = 19.5".

Cut out a rectangle in your fabric and lining per these measurements. Mine were 19.5" by 51".

Next you will need to sew the short ends of each rectangle together. Fold the width in half (hamburger style for all you 80's ladies :) right sides together and sew. If you have been blessed by the Serger Fairy-- good for you! If not you will have to do what I did and use an overcasting or zigzag stitch! You should end up with 2 tubes.

Next you will add the lining to the fabric. You do this by putting the fabric tube inside the lining tube. Making one tube with the lining on the outside.

Now you will want to pin them together. Line them up by matching the seams and pinning. Be sure to put your pins in the middle, as we will leave them in while hemming and making the elastic casing.

If one of your tubes in bigger then the other (like mine were :) do not fear! Separate them, lay them on top of one another and cut the larger one even with the smaller tube. Be sure to leave a 1/4" for your seam. You will need to sew and finish a new seam' and Viola two equal tubes!!!

If your tubes were perfect from the get go, then you are a true superstar and you can disregard this info :)!!

Next we will be hemming the bottom of the skirt. To do so fold the bottom under 1", and then fold it under 1" again. This makes it so no unfinished edge is exposed! If you like to iron (which I do not!) you could iron this down. If your like me and spend far to much money on Downey Wrinkle Release.. then you can use pins :)!! Sew up your hem. I chose to sew two lines, one at 1/4" and one at 1/2"' just to make it more interesting. You could do one line, or even a blind hem, whatever you fancy!

The last step is to make the casing for our elastic. Fold the top of the skirt down 2.5 inches and pin. I measured at four spots and marked them and then folded while lining up the marks. Again.. iron or pins, your choice! You want to sew about 1/4' up from the bottom of the fold, and be sure to leave an opening for the elastic. Keep in mind it is BIG elastic so leave a good size opening.

Now this was the toughest part for me. I wanted the elastic to fit snugly into the casing so it would not move around. This makes it a little difficult to get the elastic all the way through. I found that a giant safety pin and a lot of patience were the key! Once you have both ends of the elastic at an even length, you will want to sew them together. (Just a tip- if your elastic is twisted, you didn't sew the right sides of the elastic together and will need to take them apart and turn one side around!)

Now even out the skirt and tuck the seam of the elastic into the waistband. Sew up the hole up and you are DONE!

Disclaimer- This skirt does not come with a corvette, mansion or muscular man named Ken! Sorry Ladies!

Hand Print Pillows

I had started the year off determined to do more crafts, and blog them. Well January Me didn't take into account that 2010 Me would have a busy little girl to run after and two boys to entertain all summer. Needless to say a handful of crafts are all that have been done. One of those crafts were Hand print Pillows. I made one for each set of Grandparents. There is an awesome tutorial that I used as a base and then added my own touches here and there.

This first one was for my Mother-In-Law Hazel. I fell in love with these fabrics and knew they would look amazing in her house. I have to tell you that my MIL is a sewing genius! Sewing for her is the equivalent of cooking for Emeril.. needless to say I was nervous. All in all I loved the way it turned out, and even if every stitch isn't perfect I know she'll love it anyways!

The next one was for Stacey and Bob's Dad Eric. Jakob picked the fabric because he said " Their house is cowboy styled Mom, lets make a cowboy pillow." So we did just that. They LOVED the pillow and that made me feel awesome! It will certainly be something they can look back on and remember when the kiddos were so small!

The last one was for my Mama and Daddy! My mom has been pondering ideas for redecorating her house, so I just decided to go with a fun theme. My parents LOVE coffee.. there is always a warm pot at there house. I found this super cute coffee bean fabric and some other to match it and I think it came out really cute! My Mom loved her pillow and told everyone in the house that it was only for looks, not use! haha :)

So there you have it.. a really fun idea for Grandparent gifts. If you only have one child, you could do both hands instead. The possibilities are endless.. I will definitely be making one of these for myself very shortly!