Daddy Laptop Desk

This is belated, I know. This is the laptop desk that the little monkeys and I made for father's day / Marito's birthday (yes, it's sad for him to have both in the same week because he often just gets one combined gift). Marito usually uses large book to keep his legs from getting too hot from his laptop computer. When I saw the unfinished lap desk at Hobby Lobby I knew it was the perfect thing, and I could make it so much snazzier than the old book he was using.

This painted side is a personal joke. That's Marito, going about his business "in a professional manner." I was very pleased with the way the illustration turned out. I wasn't so pleased with the lettering. I redid it several times but finally gave up and just settled.

The Father's Day side is a collage of photos of Marito and the boys from (roughly) the last year. I've made him a few mini photo albums with the same idea in years past, and this is just a variation on the theme. The surface isn't perfectly smooth, but I wasn't worried about that since he wouldn't be using it for handwriting. I used Mod Podge for the gluing and finishing, but it seems the Mod Podge sometimes gets a little sticky when it gets very hot. Any suggestions?

It's fun to look at all the 54 of the little pictures of father and sons enjoying life together. I hope the collage gives a cheery boost to his workday.

My paintbrush box was lost so I only had large ones from my grandmother's craft boxes. It was the first time they've been used since her death 10 years ago next month. I felt privileged to use her artist tools. She was a watercolorist, and had beautiful lettering. Her paintbrushes were probably cringing under my use! Thanks, Grandma. Another special thanks to Aunt Cynthy (again) for lending me her I Love Lucy DVDs. They make a great background for crafting late into the night.

Zippity Yay! Patriotic Shirts!

When I saw the Zippity Doo Dah Moda fabric I fell in love (PDF of fabric collection here). When I saw it a second time I knew I had to get some of those stripes to make the boys some patriotic shirts for July Fourth. I bought the cheaper stars fabric for the main parts and got the Moda to use as accents. The difference between working with the cheap fabric and the Moda fabric surprised me.

I sewed Monkey One's shirt first. I didn't use a pattern for the shirt, I used some of Monkey One's older shirts. It's really fun for me to work that way, trying to figure out myself how to make it. It's like solving a puzzle, but fun.

I initially had the shirt's collar inside-out so the red stripes were on top, contrasting with the stars. But it looked a little too obnoxious. Marito had a funny reaction: "Is there any way you can make it more... masculine?" So I turned the collar back around so it wouldn't be quite so show-tunes-like.

Next I sewed Monkey Two's romper. I copied a button-up shirt of his and a knit romper. I like the contrasting lining and pocket. I realized his arms were a little confined so I took off the sleeves and added extra fabric at the shoulders (I call it shoulder patches) to make sure he would have plenty of wiggle room. I was very pleased that it fit in the end, and the shoulder patches look like they're there on purpose.

I used no-sew snaps because, I should just say it, I hate sewing on snaps. (In fact, the first romper I sewed for Monkey Two before he was born is still sitting in my to-finish pile with only half the snaps sewn on. He's long outgrown it, and never even got to wear it!) Anyway, if you buy the no-sew snaps be sure to get the easy attacher tool that holds them in place while you're hammering. Also, I think I owe an apology to my poor next door neighbors. I was hammering away snaps at midnight while they were probably trying to sleep! What was I thinking?


Here are my boys posing in their shirts for me before we headed off to the parade.

Before I finished the boys' shirts I decided to get some more fabric to make a shirt for myself. Afterall, the fabric was 20% off at Material Girls, and I needed something cute, too! Again, maybe the fabric is a little obnoxious for a woman's top, but I figure anything goes for the Fourth of July. But now that I have the shirt made I certainly have to wear it often, obnoxious or not. I think it's cute. Marito says he likes it, too. The peasant-style blouse is very comfortable, but makes me feel like I should be pregnant.

For the sizing I looked at a few shirts of mine, but I made up the style as I went. I especially like the no-fuss, over-the-head neckline and the button-thing on the back. Did I mention that I love the striped fabric? The solid navy was something I had in my stash. I'm glad I didn't have enough of the jacks fabric because the solid fabric really gives it a... well, solid look. I'm inspired to keep sewing for myself. I certainly have some fabric piling up in my closet that would make a couple of cute tops.

Another Grograin Giveaway

Rock Paper Scissors giveaway here. I love the monogram stamps. I remember seeing them in a magazine when I was trying to choose a name for Monkey Two. I imagined monograms with each of my top choices while I was sitting in the doctors office waiting room.

Dana's Mercado Skirt Giveaway

This giveaway ends today, I believe, but I wanted to share anyway. My friend Dana is amazingly talented and made some adorable skirts to give away here on her blog MADE. Seriously, you need to take a little peek. She's one cool girl-io.

Oliver + S Patterns

Little Munchkins is doing a giveaway for Oliver + S patterns. I've had my eye on these for a little while now, but I've never used one. With any luck, I will soon!

Boyer Apron

I think cute housewife aprons make such fun bridal shower gifts. So when I was invited to the bridal shower of a close family friend I got busy. I didn't have my apron patterns (I lent them to my sister out of state and keep forgetting to get them back), so I went online looking for ideas. I ended up putting together what you see here. It's a mix of this apron and another one I saw in my local quilting store last year. I'll call it the Boyer apron, after my friend's soon-to-be-former last name.

I see aprons other people post on their blogs, hanging from a rustic fence or a picturesque tree on a beautiful hanger with old fashioned clothespins. So I decided to skip the usual carpet picture and hang mine on the balcony. Of course what you get is the closest hanger I could find (it has a toddler size 4 tag on it) and office clips instead of clothespins. But it's a slight improvement on my carpet, don't you think?

I thought it would be easy to whip up an apron pattern, but it was trickier than I thought. Maybe if I had made it with a simple tie behind the neck, but I always seem to complicate things more than necessary. I adjusted and readjusted my makeshift paper pattern, cutting it here, taping it back together there.

My friend's favorite color is lavender. It's not the cutest fabric in the world by itself, but together it is so pretty. The rick rack is what really makes it, though. I love rick rack!

Here are some other aprons I've made:

Melanie's Apron
Simplicity pattern 3752
I added rick rack and chose contrasting fabric to brighten it up
March 2008



Sadie's Apron
Simplicity Retro pattern 8720
It has her initials on the pockets
December 2003

Someday I'll make one for myself!

Cowboy (Girl) Shirt

I made this little shirt for my cousin's daughter's 2nd birthday last week. She's a horse lover, so I'm hoping she'll love the fabric too. It's from a cowboy print Nick and Nora sheet from Target. This is the fourth or fifth thing I've made from that sheet set, and I have no intention of stopping soon. I'm hoping to make myself a shirt out of it, actually. Anyway, back to the shirt... I made the whole shirt in an afternoon. Everything was running smoothly, despite my lack of a female model, until I accidentally tacked the flower to the wrong side. But there was no taking it off without some serious damage to the fabric, so the shirt is backwards. Including the collar. But I told my cousin to bring the shirt back and I'll reattach the color the right way. That'll also help with the slightly small neck hole.


I had so much fun with the ruffly sleeves and hem. My boys don't wear ruffles. The hem of the shirt lined up great with the double-stitched hem of the sheet. So I just threaded the elastic between the two seams.

This was supposed to have been the front.


Cute flower/bow, don't you think? But that little thread is driving me crazy. I just want to pull it out! The jeans button in the center added a cute touch, and was super easy to attach.

Here's the cutie wearing her new shirt. She was a good sport to pose for me.

The Latest Grograin

Hopscotch Camis Giveaway
I love her.

A Cowboy Needs A Costume

I made these costumes for the cowboy section of our "Wild Wild West" homeschool year theme. These costumes started with vests, and evolved from there over the course of a couple months. I decided to post all the parts of the costumes together in one big post instead of doing several small ones.


1. Monkey One's cowboy vest. Corduroy, lined with cute cowboy quilting fabric (which will also be making an appearance in the cowboy quilt we're making right now. More on that later)


2. Monkey Two's cowboy vest in denim, lined with a more cutesie cowboy fabric. I decided to add the pockets afterwards. And look! I never got around to putting the buttons on. Oops. He's been wearing it just the same.


3. Chaps


3a. Monkey One's "woolly" chaps made from faux fur. He helped make these:


Cutting


Sewing


3b. Monkey Two's chaps made from a cowprint velboa.


4. Did you notice the belt buckle on Monkey Two? Here are both of them together. We painted them onto wooden disks from the craft store, then pinned them onto their chaps belts.


4a. Monkey One paints the finish onto his belt buckle. He chose the design he wanted after we looked at some samples. Then he painted the gray background before I painted on the design.


5. Spurs
Made from vinyl, kids craft foam covered with some shiny silver fabric (though next time I would leave the shiny fabric out), paper crafting brads, hot glue, thread, and jingle bells to give it some "jingle jangle jingle."

This was before we got cowboy boots. I wish I could say the spurs are nice and sturdy, but they fall apart a lot and I just glue them back together. I never have much luck with hot glue!

Monkey One cuts out a spur


6. Cowboy boots for Monkey Two
I got the idea for these from some cute little furry lined infant slippers that Target used to carry. These are made from thin vinyl with a soft backing. They have fringe along the back, some fun stitching, and there is a jingle bell sewed on where spurs might go. They close with Velcro behind the fringe. I'm quite proud of these, except that they don't stay on very well. I think they need some sort of cinching around the ankle. But for an infant with limited mobility they work fine. And they're darn cute, if you ask me.

I actually made some similar ones for my first little monkey when he was two. I had the same problem with them coming off. I wish I could find them so I could post a picture.





There you have it! My cute boys with their cowboy costumes. The nice thing about these costumes is that they can wear them with whatever shirt and pants happen to be clean at the time. A hat and bandanna helps, too.

The following is a little embarrassing, but it's about the costumes and it's really fun. So I'll share. We made up an additional verse to the Disney 1950's A Cowboy Needs A Horse short. Our new verse lists a shirt, vest, belt, chaps, bandanna and adventure log (Monkey One's school journal). We made our own fun video of the whole song, which you can see here, if you like. But I warn you, I'm not much of a singer. Be sure to watch after the credits for a smashbang finish of an outtake.

A Cowboy Needs A Horse Movie

Shabby Apple Dress on Grograin

I know my last two posts now have not been about my crafting and sewing (which is the whole point of this blog), but I wanted to blog about Grograin. They have the best giveaways, and she is so talented. I am in awe. This giveaway is from one of her sponsors, Shabby Apple. They have beautiful, modest dresses that I absolutely love. I can spend hours on their website (as well as Grograin's). Anyway, here's the link for the giveaway...

Shabby Apple Marseilles Dress Giveaway on Grograin