T-Shirt Scarf - Part 2

I'm back with another T-Shirt Scarf. 

Remember last week I promised a no-sew scarf. Well, I'm sharing it today! Stop by HERE to see last weeks!

Let's get right into it cuz I'm a little late posting. ;-)

Start off with a cute T-shirt. This is a smaller one of mine that I am making for my daughters. They have been wearing the others I made and asked for more colors. Too cute. But I usually use either a mens shirt or xxl for an adult scarf. You can pick them up at a thrift store to save on cost. Or if you're like me, save all your t-shirst and grab some that family and friends are throwing out!

I used another polka dot shirt. ;-D

Trim off the bottom and cut from arm pit to arm pit. Set aside the top of the shirt for later.

Fun part! Start cutting strips. Mine are just under 1" each. DO NOT cut completely off. Stop just short of the other side. Remember this is a NO SEW! Continue all the way across.

Close up of where you are NOT cutting.

Now you get to stretch out each strip to get that cute curled effect.

Now carefully separate the loops where you did not cute the shirt.

Before you gather that up, grab the top of the shirt and cut out a rectangle shape. About 2x6 in size. Then trim each end into a point. This is what you are going to use to hold together the gathered end of the scarf.

Now gather up the end that you didn't cut. 

Wrap the cut strip from the top of the shirt around the gathered end a couple of time and tie in a knot.

To get rid of the stringy ends, just tuck them under. And you have a nice finished NO SEW t-shirt scarf.

This is a really quick scarf. I had this one made in a matter of minutes. So if you need a last minute gift for someone, this would be perfect!

 Again, I added a flower. But it is just a clip on one. So you can use this scarf with or without one. Don't forget to double it up for another cute look!

I have more! Come back again next week for Part 3. I will be sharing another NO SEW scarf but with a completely different look! I can't wait to share this one!

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Scream Pillow - A Tutorial

I was talking with a friend about our daughters getting older. The subject of emotions came up and how they can get overly emotional at times. My friend suggested that I make a "Scream Pillow". She had made one for her daughter when she was becoming a lil lady. ;-) She would tell her daughter to go scream it out in her pillow. My daughter isn't quite ready to scream mad into her pillow just yet, she is just a crier. :-( She gets sad quickly when she doesn't like what she hears or realizes she might be in trouble for doing something. LOL Hormones! uuuggghh. Being a girl growing up can be so frustrating. So I finished and wanted to share it with you.

First I wanted to share that I used the printer method for my print.

You want to pick up some Bubble Jet Set 2000 and treat your fabric before you print on it. Follow the directions on the bottle...but just so you know...You will soak your fabric in the Bubble Jet Set 2000. Set aside and let it dry. Next get out your freezer paper and iron your dried fabric on. Cut to fit your printer. TIP...the freezer paper helps keep the fabric in place while printing. Otherwise it would not work at all!

Next I designed my print in photoshop and simply printed it out on my freezer paper fabric! ;-)

Now it's time to make it into a pillow. ;-)

You will need...

Your 8x10 Print

2 - Strips of fabric for the top and bottom (3x16 each)

2 - Strips for the side (3x8 each)

For the back - 12 1/4 x 15 1/2

These are the sizes I used for mine, you can of course make a smaller one. And before you get started, remember to remove the freezer paper. You only needed that to help move the fabric through the printer.

Sew on the sides first and iron flat.

Next sew on the top and bottom strips. Again, iron flat.

Place this on the back fabric. Right sides in.

Pin together. Leave an opening at the bottom for stuffing. Cut a slit on either side of your opening.

Sew all around leaving the opening. Turn right side out and iron flat.

All that's left to do is stuff it and stitch together the bottom. I love how it turned out. My daughter came home and saw it and ran over for a big kiss and a thank you! ;-) Yeah! She loved it! And I think it looks pretty darn cute on her bed too!

BTW...that was my dolly when I was a girl. She sat on my bed for many years. Now she gets passed around different parts of the house. I love her!

Tip..when washing. Wash on the hand wash or delicate cycle. Air dry!

If you are interested in making one of these, below is the print I used. Feel free to save it for personal use only. Thanks!

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Hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Tell me what you think below!

I love all your comments.

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T-Shirt Scarf - Part 1

Have you seen all those adorable t-shirt scarves out there? I have seen them all over and until I saw one in person, I never really thought of making one. I thought they were cute, but it just wasn't top of my list.

Well, my moms neighbor made the cutest one. It was teal colors with cream colored flowers pinned on for extra cuteness! I went home that night and grabbed some t-shirts. 

(sorry for the wrinkles, they were in a bin of saved shirts. No sense in ironing when I'm cutting them up.)

In this post I will share how I made my first one. I have a couple more ways to make some that turned out amazing too. So I will be posting them too. Just not today. So check back soon for the others. I will leave links to all the scarves in each post so you can easily find them all.

Anyway....on to the first scarf. With this one, I did use my sewing machine. I know that there is a way to make one with out it and I did. So don't worry, it's coming. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can alway hand stitch this version.

First start my cutting the shirt from armpit to armpit. Then cut strips on the bottom half. I cut mine just under 1" but you can just judge it as you go. You don't have to measure really.

Set aside the top half of the shirt for now. Now take each strip and stretch it out. Not too tight, just enough to make the t-shirt curl a bit.

So I don't forget to tell you....sometimes shirts have tags in the seams. Make sure you cut that out. you don't want it sticking out when you wear your scarf. LOL That would just be silly.

Next, gather one end of the strips (seam together). Take them over to your sewing machine and give it a quick stitch. I liked doing this because it is not going to shift. Those strips are in place.

Remember the top of the shirt? Grab it and turn it over. Cut a rectangle piece to sew and help cover up where you just sewed the scarf together.  I cut my piece larger because I'm just going to trim it. So keep that in mind.

Sew your rectangle inside out!

Turn it right side out and place it around the scarf and sew in place.

Trim off the excess.

Turn this right side out and hide that seam. Now you are done! A clean finish for your scarf.

Add a cute pin or flower to finish it off. You can wear it long or double it up too!

I'll be back again next week with another scarf. Don't forget to come see!

Come by this Friday for a fun party. I am hosting a

{Pinterest} Challenge Party

All those wonderful pins that we keep tucked away are coming out. I have so many loves on Pinterest so I am challenging myself to completing some of them. I will be sharing a favorite Pinterest project every Friday. Something I just have been wanting to make. 

I will also be hosting the {Pinterest} Challenge Party for you! You will be able to link up your Pinterest Projects. Just please remember to give credit to where you got the idea with a link and image of the original pin.

All link ups that don't qualify will be deleted.

Thanks and hope you come by to link up. Please share this idea with friends. I will be sharing a Party Button this Friday!

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DIY Glitter Nail Polish

So today I have a very fun and quick project. DIY Glitter Nail Polish! It is so easy, the kids can do it! But....if you need stocking stuffers, you might want to make these yourself. Just make sure you mail them to the North Pole for Santa to deliver in time for Christmas! ;-)

What you will need...

Clear Nail Polish

Glitter (variety of colors)

Sling shot balls

Funnel

So my these colors are my daughter's favorites!! I made these per request. ;o)

First head over to the dollar store and pick up some clear nail polish. The dollar store is the only place you will find them that cheap. They even have glitter. They might not have a huge variety of glitter, but you can always pick some more up at a craft store. It will just cost a little more. I had glitter already from another project. I did get mine a Michaels. The Tulip brand. You get a lot and it goes far. You will want to get the sling shot balls because they are heavy enough to shake around the glitter. I tried BB's and they were way too light. If you don't have a funnel, you can make one from paper or even use an envelope.

Once you have all your supplies....just add your choice of glitter colors to the clear nail polish. Add the sling shot ball and shake. That's it!

If you want more glitter, just add more and shake. If you are having trouble finding the correct weighted ball to shake, you can always stir the glitter in with a toothpick. It will settle after sitting, so you will need to stir again next time you use it.

Our Glitter Nail Polish Colors (in the pic above)

I had pink and blue glitter from some shirts I made. My oldest loves blue and my youngest loves pink. So that was easy. My middle daughter loves purple so we just mixed the blue and pink together to make purple. Easy Peasy! 

Just follow your basic color changing chart with your glitter to come up with your favorite colors. 

When you paint them on, they will have pretty Glittery Nails!

~ Decorate your bottles ~

Want to add some cuteness to your Nail Polish Bottles? Let the kids draw on them with permanent markers or add some cute stickers. You can even get some puffy paint and make some cute flowers, hearts, ect. on them!

Hope your day is amazing day!

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Christmas crafting with kids

We got our first snow here in West Tennessee early this week. My kids were so excited. This is really the first time that they've experienced a real snow fall. When we lived in Texas it snowed about 1/4 of an inch in February of this year and it only stuck to the driveway (so that's where they made their snow angels). So, they were super excited. They played outside in the snow...got cold...came in and had hot chocolate. We've also been doing some more crafting and Christmas crafting in particular. My kids love to do "projects", and ask to do them all the time. I figured it was time I start actually doing some of the things that I pin on my pinterest board...so we got out the construction paper and got to work!

The first thing we made was a Christmas Tree ring Advent calendar from Make and Takes. Naomi was able to do this pretty well on her own, I just had to tell her where to put the next ring, however I had to help Micah with it quite a bit.

 Then I decided to cut out their handprints and make a wreath. My mom used to make a big Christmas tree with her second grade classes handprints. I'm sure this wreath has been done before and is nothing new but it was fun to make and it'll be fun to see how their handprints grow over the years. So, I just traced their hands on one piece of paper and then cut six out at a time. Then you just curl the fingers in a bit and then I glued them to a cardboard cereal box circle.

Glue them around the circle and keep layering them until the wreath looks full. Then I just glued some red circles around and covered the middle with a big red circle and as you can see wrote "merry christmas" on the circle to cover up the ends of the hands. I think I used about 24 handprints (half from a 5 year old and half from a 3 year old).

I tried to trace Hannah's hand so that I could make a small Christmas tree but she threw a fit. I'll try again some other time. But, you can use the handprints to create a Christmas tree as well. Just start the hands with the curled fingers pointing down but the hands curling upwards and layer the handprints in the shape of a tree. I'll try and get a photo of one soon!

Happy Christmas crafting!

I'll be celebrating my 32nd birthday tomorrow...and I'm hoping to do 32 random acts of kindness within the next week. I'll let you know how it goes!

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Gifts for grandma and husbands

Hey there everyone, sorry for being absent on the blog last week, I was enjoying time with my family and didn't feel like spending any of that time on the computer...

So I owe you two weeks worth of gifts. Gifts for grandma and gifts for husbands.

There were a few things that my mom mentioned when I asked her about what the kids could make
for her that she would like to receive. She said she loves any handmade gift from the kids and
especially anything made with handprints. So, we did the handprint calendar for grandpa but obviously
grandma gets to enjoy that as well. She mentioned things like placemats, mousepads, an apron with
handprints on it...and while I think these are all great ideas and hopefully we'll still be able to make some
of these things before Christmas, we made something different. My parents are missionaries right now
over seas and they don't have a lot of the "comforts of home" with them over there. So, I decided to have my kids paint them a picture. I just gave the kids a square canvas board and let them use their own creativity to paint them a picture. Canvas boards can be found at JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby and Michael's. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby and it was a package of 6 boards for $7.99 and I had a 40% off coupon so each board only cost me about 80cents, and I already had the paints on hand so this is a VERY inexpensive gift idea.

These paintings usually happen in "sessions", they paint for a bit then stop and add more too it at another time. They LOVE to paint and ask almost everyday if they can paint. I like to keep those square canvas boards on hand for times like these. They make great personal gifts. I didn't take a photo of the finished project because I don't want to spoil the surprise for my mom!

I don't have any photos of what I am getting/making for Greg...but I can tell you about it quick. I ordered some personalized products with some photos that my aunt took for us on Thanksgiving. He's in need of a new travel mug (takes his coffee to work with him every morning) so I ordered one from Shutterfly. I also ordered a desk calendar for him from Vistaprint (I got the same one as a wall calendar for free). And the thing I am making for him is pajama pants. He told me that he was a little sad last Christmas when the kids got new jammies but he didn't. SO, I  went to goodwill and had Micah pick out a top sheet that he liked (he picked solid navy blue) and I bought that and one flannel sheet for the girls and I plan to sew pj pants for the whole family out of those sheets. Sheets are so much cheaper (especially from goodwill) than buying that much yardage of fabric at the fabric store. Plus, isn't it nice to crawl into your sheets wearing sheets?! Ha, we'll see. I have a pair for myself that I cut out of some old vintage orange and yellow flower sheets about two years ago...maybe I'll actually sew them for my Christmas present this year!

Hope I've given you some ideas. I need something else for my hubby though, so if you have any good hubby gift ideas I'd love to hear them!! Have a great week!

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