I Need More... Lunchtime Entertainment [Lunch Box Re-do]

We are lucky enough to have friends/neighbors who own a booming business.  Maybe you've heard of it - DownEast Outfitters.  They sell super fashionable, modest clothing.  But what you might not know, is that they also have clearance centers that re-sell treasures from stores like Pottery Barn and the like at killer prices.

Last summer someone tipped me off to DownEast's sale on Pottery Barn Kids beach towels at just $2.50 each!  I seriously bought about twenty and then another twenty to pass out like tissues at the pool.  This year the hot tip was lunch boxes.  With my daughter starting kindergarten, we were in need of a serious lunch box.

There is just one little hitch when it comes to things like beach towels and lunch boxes at the DownEast clearance center... they are there because they are factory seconds or returns.  So, the lunch boxes that we found, at 2/$5 by the way, originally looked like this:

Now, I don't have a clue who "Mrj. Reese" or "Zoe R." are, but I am more than happy to make lemonade out of their lemon lunch boxes!  And it was easy, I just cut some fabric labels and ironed them on with no-sew ultrahold Heat-N-Bond.  My favorite kindergartener is over the moon to have not one, but two lunch boxes to choose from each morning and I'm trilled that it only set me back five bucks!  Easiest (and maybe cheapest) craft ever.

Do you have any "easiest craft ever" stories to share?  I'd love to hear them!

I Need More... Hacking [IKEA Overlays]

First of all, do you say 'dresser' or 'chest of drawers'?  Inquiring minds want to know!  Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Oh.  My.  Goodness.  Have you seen these?  Brilliant is all I can say.  They are called O'verlays (www.myoverlays.com) and two friends envisioned potential in inexpensive fretwork panels designed to give basic IKEA chests of drawers a stunning custom look.  And through their custom department, it doesn't stop there!  You can "O'verlay" just about anything.  (end tables, windows, etc.)  Take a look at their blog.  Brilliant!

The O'verlays are made of a lightweight composite material that allows greater flexibility and less splintering (thank you for thinking of that, ladies) and come in multiple sizes and patterns.  They are also paintable.  Brilliant!

I am ridiculously excited about ordering some of these babies because just last month we purchased two IKEA Malm dressers.  We chose them for their price (affordable) but I hesitated at the register because they seemed almost too simple (blah).  Don't get me wrong.  I love simple and clean.  But dressers are such focal pieces in a bedroom that I wanted to make a statement with mine.  Thank you, O'verlays, mission accomplished!  (Well, once I order and install them.)  Brilliant!  (I told you that was all I could say.  One more time... brilliant!)

I Need More... Reasons to Celebrate [National Donut Day!]

I am not ashamed that I LOVE DONUTS (or doughnuts, whatever).  And that makes today a day to celebrate!  Did you know that way back in 1938, the Salvation Army set aside the first Friday of June to honor the women who served donuts to soldiers during World War I?  Lucky for us, historians record noteworthy events like this so that we, in 2012, can forget our silly diets for a day and cram our faces with deep-fried glazed goodness.  I may have gotten a little overexcited with that last sentence there...  No matter.  How will you celebrate National Donut Day?

In honor of this momentous day, I give you a darling (April Fool's Day) craft idea - Donut Seeds.

I Need More... Clothing [Skinny Jeans for All!]

So, we are just a few months away from welcoming our second little bundle of joy into the family (a boy this time - and unless I can ruffle everything he wears, sewing for him is going to be a BIG metal shift from his big sister's wardrobe...).  With a good five years between the pregnancies, I am finding that - no real surprise here - styles have changed!  [gasp]  "Boysley", as my daughter calls her new little brother, is going to be our last kiddo and I just couldn't bring myself to spend a fortune on maternity clothing that will only see the light of day for a few months.  Time to get creative.  Time to turn bootcut jeans into skinny jeans.  And it couldn't be easier, folks.  I actually did this technique back when I wasn't expecting, too.

 1. Find your bootcut jeans (to be skinny-ified) and a pair of already skinny jeans that you like the fit of.

 2. Turn your bootcut jeans inside-out and un-pick the inseam hem and about two inches into the hem on either side of the side seam (giving you a little room to unfold the hem and work more easily).

 3. Lay your existing skinny jeans on top of the now inside-out bootcut jeans and measure the difference in fabric.  Remember, you are working with the INSIDE seam of the pants here.  If you take a look at the seam on the outside of your leg, you'll notice that it is much more complicated, what with topstitching, etc.  Let's stick with the easy-to-hide-any-mistakes area of the inside seam, shall we?

 4. With a Mark-B-Gone or disappearing ink pen, mark your sewing line.  Using my existing skinny jeans as a guide, I add about an inch to an inch and a half to the skinny jeans which should leave plenty of seam allowance.  I would suggest that you try on your bootleg jeans before cutting to see where a natural spot would be to start tapering your pant leg.  For me, I started my tapering about 19 inches up the pant leg.

 5. Serge or sew along your marked sewing line.  Trim your new seam and discard any excess fabric to remove any unnecessary bulk.  These are skinny jeans not bulky, right?

 6. Flip those jeans right-side-out and try them on.  How does the taper look?  Does it look natural or like you're wearing riding pants at the pony show?  This is your chance to adjust.


After you are happy with the new seams, flip back to the inside and, with heavy-duty denim thread, stitch just inside your tapering seam.  This will not only reinforce the seam, but should your seam pull a little - as seams do - from the outside, all you will see is a hint the denim thread that matches all of the other thread on your jeans.  No one will know that you've been doctoring your pants!

 7.  Refold and iron into place the hem.  With heavy duty denim thread, re-sew the length of hem that you unpicked at the start of the project.

8. Flip to the right-side and give the new seams a quick press with the iron (maybe even a spin in the washing machine).  You did it!  Bootcut jeans to skinny in a snap.  Nice work, pal.  Wear them with pride and pray that the trend toward bootcut and flare jeans stays at bay just a little bit longer.

I Need More... Ice Cream [The Most Memorable Place Mats]

Oh man, I love food.  And some of my best memories are thanks to the special places that serve me great food.  One of those places is in my hometown, Hanford, CA.  It's a little ice cream shop called Superior Dairy, opened in 1929.  

I am proud to say that I was raised on the best ice cream ever made!  Rocky Road (I painted my current dining room in the exact brown of this flavor), Chocolate Chip (the best for milkshakes), and during the summer months (oh yes, I wait for it) Fresh Peach.  

Now that I'm all grown up and living two states away from Superior Dairy, I miss it terribly.  But on my last visit as I gorged myself on Strawberry (sent from heaven, I swear), I took home a few paper menus with a very simple craft in mind.  Place mats!  If I can't live near Superior, I'll at least pretend.  Do you have a favorite eatery like me?  Grab some menus and grab the laminator.  Life's too short not to make meals memorable!

I Need More... Shoes [Glitter Flip Flop Tutorial]

Another seasonal Nordstrom catalog graced our mailbox recently.  And, as happens EVERY TIME I fall in love with an item and go to order it, whatever it is is OUT OF STOCK!  Grrr...  So I decided to take matters into my own hands this time and re-make these darling little summer shoes.

As luck would have it, Old Navy had their thin-strapped leatherette thongs on clearance for $5.49.  So I grabbed a silver pair and got to work.


SUPPLIES:
Thin-strapped flip flops that have a slightly dressier look than basic rubber ones
Glitter vinyl fabric (this is the same stuff that diners use to cover their barstools)
Hot glue gun & glue
Scissors, rotary cutter and mat
Pen


INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut two of each of the following rectangles from the vinyl: 6x1.25-inch (bottom bow), 4x1.25-inch (top bow), and 3.5x0.75-inch (middle band). 

2. On the backsides of the top bow and bottom bow pieces, draw a line to mark the very center of the rectangle.  

3. Pick a rectangle, fold the short edges toward the center mark you've just drawn, meeting in the middle.  Cover with a sheet of tissue paper and zig zag stitch.  The paper will help keep your presser foot from sticking to the vinyl fabric as you sew.  

4. Tear away the tissue paper.  It's okay if a little paper gets left in the stitching.  It will get covered up with the middle band in the end.  Repeat for all of the top bow and bottom bow pieces.  Don't forget to trim your threads.

5. Run a bead of hot glue down the zig zag stitching and stack the top bow piece to the bottom bow piece.  

6. On the middle band pieces, carefully cut a 1-inch slit on one end of the rectangle.  Keep the cut centered on the vinyl fabric.

7. Run a bead of hot glue down both side of the cut and press to the underside of the toe strap.  Watch for glue burns!

8. Hot glue one stacked top/bottom bow to the top of the toe strap.  Be sure to center the bow over the toe strap.

9. Glue the middle band up and over the bow's face and then back around to the bottom, gluing down any loose corners.  Work with a small section at a time or else you'll have a hot gluey mess on your hands.

10.  Slip them on!  You're done and aren't they just cute as a button?  I mean bow?

I Need More... Clearance Finds! [Tank Top to Dress]

I love Target and I love to wander their clearance racks!  Yesterday, I found this girls' tank top for $1.12. Sunshine yellow tank top for a buck?  Yes, please!  I can do something with that (and so can you!).

Tank Top to Dress
(This pattern is based on a size 5T tank top.  Adjust measurements as necessary.)

SUPPLIES
Tank Top
Contrasting fabric for skirt and collar, about 1/2 yard
Interfacing, fusible
Sewing machine (or serger) and thread


HOW TO
1. Cut two 6.5x21-inch ruffles from fabric.  Cut one 4x15-inch band from fabric.  (Note: The band's width measurement is determined by the measurement of the bottom of the tank top plus an inch for stretch and seam allowance.)

2. Baste first ruffle piece in preparation for gathering.  

With the right sides together, gather and pin the ruffle to the band.  Stitch.  Press seam allowance toward band.  Again with right sides together, match the side seams and stitch.  Flip to right side.

3. Stitch short side seams together on second ruffle piece.  Baste and gently gather one long edge of the ruffle.  Ease and stitch to bottom of tank top, right sides together.

Pin the band with ruffle attached (right side) on top of the ruffle (wrong side) that you just stitched to the tank top.  Stitch.  Press seam allowance up.

4. Topstitch your ruffles to help them behave.

5. Hem ruffles.


6. On to the collar...  Place a piece of scratch paper on top of your tank top.  Sketch a Peter Pan collar.  Cut the sketch out and eyeball it on your tank top.  Love it?  Use it.  Hate it?  Start again.  No biggie.  When you have a shape that you like, pin the sketched collar to fabric, trace the pattern adding about a 1/4-inch seam allowance, and cut four pieces.  I used my handy dandy Mark-B-Gone pen to trace the piece.

Cut two additional pieces out of fusible interfacing and adhere to two collar pieces.

7. With right sides of the collar pieces together, stitch a 1/4-inch seam allowance around outside edge.  Clip seam allowance on curve.  Flip to right side and press.  On the open end, carefully clip the curve and turn under 1/4-inch and iron.  I tucked the very tippy-toppy point under because it was impossible to turn.  (Please don't hate me...  there must be an easier way to do this.  You're so close to being done!)

Pin to the neckline of the tank top and stitch.  (Note: I change the color of my bobbin thread to match the fabric underneath, in this case yellow.  That way, my stitches won't show on the backside of the garment.)

If you're at this point - congratulations! - you made it through the dumbest collar tutorial online.  Everything else was easy though, no?  And now you have a darling little "Tank to Dress" (that YOU made) to show for it!