DIY Ombre Nails

Yup, I have jumped on the ombre bandwagon. After seeing all of these "easy" nail design how-to's on Pinterest I was itching to try some of them out. I picked an ombre one because it seemed pretty goof proof and I had all the supplies at home.

Ta-Da! They turned out pretty cute right?! By the way, my nails are NEVER this long. One of the benefits of being preggo, super strong nails!

I am NOT a huge fan of either baby pink or bright pink on my nails, but for some strange reason when I put the two of them together it was a match made in ombre heaven!

The tutorial was super easy to follow and had great photos, check it out here. Also feel free to check on my all things pretty board on Pinterest to see what else I am contemplating doing! 

The lighter color is Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Fast Dry Nail Color #205 Pink Blink and the darker color is Essie #264 Watermelon.

I have so many other color combos I want to try out, looks like this will be my go to for nail design....for now!    


 

"Big Sister" Applique Tee

After making my nephew the football blanket I shared a couple days ago, I decided I couldn't send him something without making something for his big sister! I have been wanting to make my niece a special shirt ever since we found out she was going to be a big sister, I finally made the time to do it.

I picked up the t-shirt from a local resale shop for $2.50, its a nice brand name shirt that looks like new! I especially loved the 3 ribbon roses around the neckline. 

I had a fat quarter bundle with 6 coordinating fabrics, so I had a nice palate to choose from. I followed my favorite applique tutorial, over at Skip To My Lou!

I downloaded a cute font (thanks Pinterest!) to use for the lettering, you can view the font HERE on my Pinterest board. 

I typed out BIG SIS in my Word program, printed it out, then cut out my letters. I traced the letters BACKWARDS onto the SMOOTH side of my HeatNBond. Backwards. Backwards. Backwards. Or else you will end up doing it twice...like me.

I put the rough side of the HeatNBond onto the WRONG of the fabric. Then I ironed the HeatNBond to the fabric. After it cooled a bit, I cut out the letters that were now attached to the HeatNBond. I peeled off the paper portion and placed my letters where I wanted them onto the t-shirt. After making sure everything was where I wanted it, I ironed the letters to the t-shirt. 

After it cooled, I added a simple stitch around the letters with my sewing machine. I used my Fray Check around all of the letters to prevent fraying. Voila!

      
The stitching around the letters didn't turn out as fantastic as I wanted. Sewing around curves isn't my forte. But overall, I think the t-shirt turned out cute. 

I hope my niece loves this shirt and loves being a Big Sister! Its a tough job, but someone has to do it :)
 

 

Guest Room Update!

Since my husband and toddler took over my bed for the night (their snoring could be measured by the Richter Scale!), I will be sleeping in our extra room. Then I remembered I forgot to share a project with ya'll! Right before the holidays, I finally made a duvet cover for our spare bedroom.

Pretty sweet, huh?

And you will NEVER guess what I made it out of.

Okay....maybe you will guess, especially if you have read this post.

This lovely duvet cover was made from 2 queen size flat sheets from WalMart! 

For the last few months, I have been searching unsuccessfully for a white duvet cover that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. I mean, come on, its for the guest room. I didn't want the most expensive bedding to be in the room that rarely gets used!

So I decided to make it myself! It was pretty easy, I simply sewed 2 flat sheets together. First, I pinned the wrong sides together but only along 3 edges. Then I sewed those edges closed. I used buttons all along the bottom edge to fasten the cover closed. I also sewed ribbon tie tabs in the top corners (so you can tie the duvet to the cover so the duvet doesn't slide around inside the cover, this also means I had to sew ribbon tie tabs to the duvet itself). 

If I were to make this for my master bed, I would've sewn the bottom edge partially closed too instead of leaving it totally unsewn. I would leave about a 24 in gap to add buttons to close the cover. I would only add in this additional step because the cover would be used more often and it would allow me to add in 2 more tie tabs to the bottom corners.

Close up of the buttons on the bottom edge of the duvet cover

I even found the buttons at WalMart too :)

I am so pleased with how it turned out. I would never be able to keep a white comforter clean in my master bedroom because of the cats and the toddler oh and my husband...but it looks lovely in the guest room.

While I was shopping for flat sheets at Wally World, I picked up one more in navy to make another set of Ruffle Sheet Curtains. 

I love how this looks. Plus, my room is sooo dark now. 

So if anyone is counting, I have made a duvet cover and ruffle curtains from flat sheets at WalMart. I wonder what else I can make.....


        

Easy DIY Party Centerpieces

The next project for Little Miss's upcoming birthday party: Come up with centerpieces!

I ordered princess tiara lollipops, tea pot lollipops, chocolate gold coins, candy bracelets, and small plastic wands from Oriental Trading (I love when they have free shipping codes!). I wanted all of these to go into goodie bags, but then I came up with a new idea - Use them all in the centerpieces! And when the guests start to leave, they can take the candy out of the centerpieces ala candy buffet style. This way I won't end up with centerpieces I may never use again!

Since I had tulle and ribbon left over from making the cupcake stand and goodie bags, I decided to incorporate the remains into the centerpieces.

 
Does anyone else have a cabinet full of vases from flower arrangements over the years? Well I have one very full cupboard and decided to use a few of these vases for the centerpieces. I used craft glue to attach ribbon around the vases to give them all a unifying look.

Small round vase filled with tulle and chocolate gold coins

Princess Tiara lollipops in a medium yellow vase, first stuffed with grocery bags then topped off with the tulle.

Tea Pot lollipops in another small vase

Another small round vase, filled with candy bracelets

 
The taller vases I first stuffed with plastic grocery bags then topped them with tulle before adding in the wands or candy.

I made sure to buy plenty of candy to ensure if the kids grabbed a few before it was time to stuff their goody bags, there would be enough left at the end!
 
    
 
 

DIY Cupcake Stand

The first item on my DIY list for Little Miss's 3rd birthday party was a cupcake stand. Last year, we bought one of those cheap cardboard cupcake stands that matched all of the Elmo supplies we bought at the party store. Considering the price, it really was a piece of crap. It barely held all the cupcakes and it was flimsy. When I decided to serve cupcakes again this year, I decided I was going to make my own cupcake stand.

I wanted to make a cupcake stand that I would be able to re-use and personalize for whatever occasion needed. Since we are going with a "Royal Tea Party" theme for the birthday party, I decorated the cupcake stand accordingly.

Its perfect for a little princess's birthday tea party!

I bought all of supplies at Michael's: 

Wilton Round Silver Cake Base 10in., 2 pack
Wilton Round Silver Cake Base 12in., 2 pack
Ribbon, 1in. wide
Tulle Fabric Bolt
3 Flower pots, 2.5 in.
4 Plastic Solo cups
Silver metallic spray-paint
Hot glue


First I spray painted the 3 flower pots and 4 plastic cups with the silver metallic spray-paint.

Next I simply glued the ribbon to the edge of the cake bases, except on the bottom base I glued the tulle down first then topped off with a ribbon. For the tulle, I glued then gathered, glued then gathered. Be prepared for hot glue on your fingers! The key is to allow a few moments for the glue to set before moving onto the next set of gathers. Otherwise you end up with hot glue & tulle all over in the wrong places.

For each base, I measured to find the exact center. Then I used hot glue to attach the flower pots to the bases. 

After waiting for all the glue to set, I glued the bottom base onto the 4 plastic cups.

Pretty simple, huh?

The only thing that I was unappeased about was how the hot glue did not dry clear on the flower pots, it looks yellowish to me. But I know once all of the cupcakes are on the tiers no one will be able to see that minor imperfection :)

You can use a variety of things to space the tiers instead of flowers pots. I almost used plain, wooden candle sticks but I wanted something wider. I found cute, plastic containers but they weren't as tall as I wanted. 

I spent a little more money on the cake bases because these are thick, sturdy, and wipe-able. They are also grease resistant and food-safe!

This will be the perfect cupcake stand for the birthday party, my aim is to have cupcakes on the bottom 3 tiers and place a small cake on the top tier!
 
 

DIY Explorer Backpack Tutorial

Saying my daughter loves Dora the Explorer is the understatement of the century. I have been searching for months for the perfect Dora Backpack and have come up with nothing. I found a few tutorials, but none of them were the right one. So I decided I should make one!

Turned out pretty cute!

I kind of winged it, meaning I didn't have a pattern and I just figured it out as I went along. I bought a couple yards of no-pill fleece in the perfect purple color and went to work.

First thing, I had to cut up the fleece. I needed to make the shape for the backpack, so I got creative and used one of my big dinner plates to trace the outline. After cutting out a front & back piece to the backback, I had to cut out a strip to connect the two pieces (I took measuring tape and measured the perimeter of the front piece). I made it about 4 inches wide. I decided to use a different fabric to line the backpack, so I cut out the previous 3 pieces again but on the lining fabric. Next, I needed to make straps. So I cut 2 pieces of fabric wide enough to fold each in half to make a strap. I needed to make a flap for the backpack, so I used my handy dandy dinner plate again.

First, I made the straps because this is the most annoying part. I folded the strap parts in half then sewed a 1/4 inch hem. This is the part I hate: turning the straps right-side out. Check out this easy video to help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn3YY4KYD9E

After turning the straps right-side out, I did a 1/4 inch hem on both sides.

To make the face, I cut out pieces of felt and used my Heat N Bond to adhere them to the backpack. Then I sewed it all down using a zig-zag stitch.

Next I attached the 4 inch wide strip to the right side of the front of the backpack (lets just call this the "smiley" side!).

Next I attached the final piece of the backpack body to the rest of the backpack, right sides facing.

Turn it right side out, then repeat the previous steps with the lining fabric.

Next put the lining fabric inside the fleece backpack. I folded the lining fabric 1/4 inch, then folded it over the fleece portion on the outside.

Before sewing, attach the flap AND the straps underneath the outside fold of the lining fabric.

Setting the flap underneath the outside fold of the lining fabric

Setting the straps underneath the flap AND the outside fold of the lining fabric

Sewing on the outside fold of the lining fabric.

After sewing on the outside fold of the lining fabric, fold this top part down into the backpack. At this point, you should not be able to see the lining fabric from the outside of the backpack. Now sew around the top of the backpack ensuring the lining fabric stays inside and is not peaking out.

For the final part, attach the other end of the strap to the backpack. To make sure the straps were the right length, I used my daughter and had her put on the backpack. After sewing down the straps, I cut off the excess material. 

Now add in an anxious toddler and what do you get...

 

A very happy Dora the Explorer fan :)

This project took about 2 hours with interruptions. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I hope my instructions aren't too confusing, this is my first attempt at making something from scratch using just the ideas in my head. Happy Sewing!




 

DIY Fall Topiary!

I just couldn't wait any longer, I had to put out my fall decorations! I was going to wait until the official first day of fall but a good friend told me that since its past Labor Day it wasn't a faux pas to put out my decorations.
 
I love decorating my porch and since Michaels was having a massive sale, I couldn't resist. I found lots of inspiration on Pinterest and decided I wanted to create my own fall topiary!

This was so easy to make and it turned out so cute! Let me tell you how I did it:

All of the supplies came from Michaels (except the pots but I will explain that later) and were on sale this weekend.

The first part is cutting the tops off 2 of the 3 craft pumpkins. I used an old steak knife that I don't like to do this. 

Then I used hot glue to put the pumpkins together. Lots of hot glue...

I decided I wanted to personalize my topiary and added our initial onto the second pumpkin. I simply found a font I wanted (thanks Pinterest!) and printed it out. I cut out the initial and taped it onto the pumpkin so I could trace it.

After tracing it, I used some leftover acrylic paint to fill it and add a few swirly designs.

While this was drying, I went ahead and began using hot glue to attach the leaf garland in between the pumpkins. Once again, lots of hot glue.

Now it was time to attach the bow with hot glue (surprised huh?). I could've made it myself, but I had a 50% off one full priced item coupon!

At this point, the acrylic paint was dry so I used a high gloss varnish to seal the paint (same paint I used for THIS project).


Now about those pots I used. I have had these 2 pots for years now and I've killed everything I planted in them. Since the decorations not alive to begin with, I figured I was safe using them. The pots are 2 sizes, I simply turned one upside down and used the smaller one right side up. If you don't have 2 pots laying around, you can find pretty topiary pots at the craft store.

I used a grapevine wreath to go around the rim of the top pot. Then I used floral stems and stuck them into the grapevine wreath.

My tower of pumpkins fit perfectly into the top pot!

After making this fall topiary, I pulled out my other decorations and the new ones I bought at Michaels.

The garland around the door, the hay bale, and scarecrow were all from Michaels. Although the scarecrow was purchased years ago. The wreath on the door is from Homegoods. I found it at the end of the season on sale because it was missing a few embellishments, which I was able to find at Michaels and attach with hot glue!

I absolutely love how my front porch looks. It was so easy, I just had to share! Happy decorating :)