REFASHIONING A NEW SHIRT

In my search to refashion clothes for the girls in this family I have found lots and lots of  T-shirt refashions. T shirt refashions tend to look pretty easy, and who doesn't have bunches of T shirts laying around the house?

 

Baby Boogie showing off her style, and not choking the kitten, today will be a good day!

I have recently been working tons of over time, but I wanted to try out a T shirt refashion, so I skimmed my Pinterest boards and came across this amazing and simple looking idea.

This blog has tons of great ideas, and this one looked super easy!

I have tons of T shirts but no plain ones.  I didn't think that this would look right with any designs on the shirt , and frankly I wasn't ruining my Batman or Captain America shirts.  You can't cut those guys up!  I found a purple turtle neck that Babydoll has outgrown and never really liked wearing ,she loved the color but the turtle neck annoyed her.

This needed a few alterations, the turtle neck and the sleeves needed to be gone.

With the sleeves and the turtle neck cut off, I just had to follow the directions on the blog.  I had planned on altering my pictures to show you how this was done but my photo editor hates me, and well you can go back to http://wobisobi.blogspot.ca/2012/07/no-sew-halter-3-diy.html for all the directions!

Basically you are cutting a V neck out of the front, then cutting two squares out of the back.  It really is such a simple DIY refashion and it is NO SEW I know some people love to see those two little words!

Here is Baby Boogie modeling the front of the shirt, I put a cute little blue jean skirt with it, well because it was the first bottom cover I could find that was clean. 

Here is a close up of the back.  The turtle neck has one of those printed tags on the inside of the shirt and you can just see the little bit of white on the left sleeve but it's not a big deal and if it starts to bother me I could always cut it off.

This refashion really took me no time at all. I am serious it took me a total of maybe 15 mins, the toughest part was getting Baby Boogie to stand still and model the shirt for me!

Now I need some plain t-shirts in Black, White and Dark Purple, for ME!!

PIZZA CASSEROLE!!

Baseball Season means a lot of things....hurrying home from work to make it to a game, trying to make baby Boogie sit for an hour and a half!! Having to hunt baseball equipment down every day, washing washing and washing uniforms, and making dinners that are fast, tasty and good for you.  During this season we rely on our crock pot as much as we can, or we eat hot dogs at the game...but I can eat only so many hotdogs in a couple of months.

  

While trying to come up with new fast dinner ideas I ran across a pin on Pinterest for Pizza Casserole...it sounded super easy, pretty cheap, and with this household of carb-attics perfect!

Ingredients:

• Box of Bow Tie Pasta
• 1 LB Pepperoni
• 1 LB Diced Ham
• 2 Jars Pasta Sauce
• 2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 can Mushrooms

Directions:

1. Boil Bow Tie Pasta till fully cooked
2. Then layer pasta, ham, pepperoni, cheese, and mushrooms like you would with Lasagna  until you fill the pan. (or run out of ingredients) 
3. I always top with cheese and pepperoni
4. Place in the oven at 350 for about 40 mins (until cheese is melted but not burned)

This feeds my family of six just fine and sometimes we have a little bit of leftovers.  We top our with Parmesan cheese and go to town!  

This is the original pin, they make it different but I tweaked mine to fit my family's personal tastes!

JUNE IS SNEAKING UP FAST!

My kiddos start school early in August which means with the end of May fast approaching, Summer Vacation is looming it's big ugly head! So what do we parents do when Summer is coming? Prepare, Prepare Prepare! Your kids will now be home all day!!! Summer Vacation is already about to be put on the bad word list and it hasn't even arrived yet! Ok it's not that bad, but seriously we need to PREPARE!

 

Schools out for summer!! I bet that song will now be stuck in your head, it's ok it's a great song!

 

I am no June Cleaver and with four kids home all summer I am scared, shaking in my flip flops scared of what this summer may bring! I decided I needed to be prepared, and made a June Bucket List to help me on my way!!

 





This particular list is for June only, but that doesn't mean that we won't be using it through out the summer.  I need some organization around my house but I want some Fun too! Normally during the summer we try to get out as much as possible and Jerm and I want to spend as much time as we can with the kiddos before School comes and steals them away again!

 

# 1.) Make individual bucket lists!

 

Tutu's and Tantrumn's  utilized the Bucket list with her kiddos by letting them pick the things they wanted to do this summer, and write them on a Popsicle stick.  I love the idea, but I want to tweak it just a bit.  The three older kiddos are going to each pick five things that they want to accomplish, places to go, or things to do (with-in reason) that they can attach to clothes-pins and put on their own personal buckets!

 

 

#2.) Chores need to come back...you have been missed (by me)!

 

The older kids used to have chores but somehow we got out of the habit of them and everything fell back to mom and dad.  This has got to stop, the kids need to help out.  With the way things look now with most the kids gone during the day I shudder to think what it will look like all summer if we allow this to continue. So I am making new chore charts and including some new ideas on how to keep this going...starting in June!

 

 

#3.) Saunder's Springs...hiking, picnic, and learning!

Our family visits Saunder's Springs Nature Reserve as much as we can but normally it is spur of the moment and we mostly just walk the trails and enjoy the weather.  This year I want planned outings picnics, nature walks, ect....are you catching an organizational theme yet?!





#4.) Summer School!?!

 

Bubby had some problems this year with Reading he was 17 points behind grade level at the end of the year testing.  In Math he was 21 points above grade level, but that Reading score is causing some concern for Jerm and me.  Bubby is a smart kiddo and I know that he has it in him to pull that score up so this summer we are going to work towards that goal.  Babydoll is moving to first grade so I am going to work with her to prepare her for the next year.  Honestly Monkey has always tested above grade level in most subjects and has report cards that are full of A's and high B's so we will just review so he doesn't forget anything over the summer.  Baby Boogie is going to learn the Alphabet some counting and how to use the potty!!

 

 

#5.) Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!!

 

Our city has a pool/playground that is open to the public.  The playground is fantastic and my kiddos love going there, and what kid doesn't like a pool?!?! We always plan to go several times a summer...but it doesn't seem to ever work out like that.  This year we are going to go as many times as we can starting on opening day in May and letting June set the tone for the rest of the summer!

 

 

I know that it doesn't seem like much but the June Bucket list involves a lot of organization and planning to accomplish.  I want to try and take pictures of each item as we accomplish them or partake in them..we will see. 

 

 

 





  



RE-FASHION-ING!!!

I am a thrifty momma, with kids these days you have to be.  I tried the coupon thing...didn't work out so well.  Don't get me wrong if I happen to notice a coupon for something that I buy, I do cut it out and most of the time use it before I loose it. When I have to buy the kiddos clothes, shoes, or anything else I shop around before I commit to paying for it.  I will go to every store that I know sells what I am looking for and find the most reasonable price.I brag about how much money I SAVE! I have a few friends who brag about how much things cost, that is so not this momma's attitude.  The more that I can get for mine and Jerm's hard earned money the better I feel.

 

The other day while cruising through Pinterest I stumbled onto a pin that led me to a Blog that just may change mine and my daughters wardrobes for life!  The blog enabled me to accomplish this!

 

Ok it doesn't look like much right now....but I will show you the magic in just one moment!

 

First let me introduce you to my inspiration.  She has been on TV, and has an inspiring blog!  You have to check out her blog, I could tell you all about it but honestly it will be so much better for you to see it for yourself. Warning: I spent an entire night trying to catch up of years of blog posts I am addicted!

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE REFASHIONISTA!

 

So my little re-fashion was for baby Boogie, why because she is tiny and being the youngest of four I have a lot of "out-grown" clothes from her older siblings so this was a free craft.  This was not my first attempt, my first two are only worthy of anything with the words craft FAIL included!!

 

I found an adorable shirt that Babydoll outgrew last winter. It isn't a very thick shirt and other than the fact that it has long sleeves would be great for the summer.  Plus I love the print, not too girly but fun!

 

So I took out my scissors and cut off those long sleeves the weather is finally warming up so we don't need them!  When I cut off the sleeves, I went along the hemmed lines...why? So I wouldn't have to hem them later!!

 

The new sleeves were still a little to wide for what I wanted, so using a running stitch I cinched them in a little.  Then I took a couple pieces of the sleeve (that was cut off) and tied them up!

This dress was now in working order, but...it still seemed a little plain to me. I snazzed it up by cutting three strips of fabric from the left over sleeves...

 

Then using a running stitch again I turned them into RUFFLES!

There you have it! My first (non-craft-fail) re-fashion! Baby Boogie has worn it once so far, but she seemed to like it just fine! The length was perfect and the weight of the fabric is light enough for her to play outside and stay cool! Plus she looks too cute in the little dress even though she never likes to stand still long enough to be a decent model!







PITTER PATTER OF LITTLE FEET...

I am still pretty new to the crafting game, not really the expert crafter.  Pinterest and other blogs are the basis for most of my inspiration.  There have been a couple times where craft supply stores have inspired me. Crafting is simply a hobby for me, I don't plan on making my fortune with it!

 

When Jerm and I got married  last July I wanted something to represent the year that our two families really became one.  I found this adorable foot stool idea on Pinterest and knew that it would work perfectly.  Not only would the foot stool represent our family anniversary but it could be a functional piece too!

 

 

 

Saw this cute little foot stool on Pinterest!

 

 

I went thrifting! After a couple of thrift stores, a few Goodwill's and my local Peddlers Mall I finally found the perfect sized foot stool for my little project. Only paid $3.00!

 

 

Now this brown color wasn't going to work, so I sanded it down a little and then searched my supply of paints.  I found a beautiful Martha Stewart Wine colored multi-surface paint in my stash!



I normally find these paints at Michaels ot Lowes

 

 

I painted the entire foot stool, using about three coats of paint.  It didn't use the entire bottle of paint and dried pretty quickly!

(This is the same color that I used to stencil my lamp up do)

 

The color in this picture makes it look a lot more pinkish than it really is. This color has become a reoccurring color through-out my house. After the paint dried I was going to use stamp ink to copy the kiddos foot prints, but my ink was dried up so I simply had to paint my kids feet with black  Martha Stewart Paint. Then we just placed the feet firmly down, and lifted straight up (a lot harder than it sounds)!

As you can see they didn't come out perfect but meh, it's not too big a deal!

 

 

I then took a very fine tipped paint brush and painted the sides and front of the foot stool, to make it even more personalized to our family!

Last name and the date we all officially became a family.

 

I don't know why I started referring to my family this way but it's now our thing.

Probably because when I tell people we have four kiddos they look at me like I just said 40 kiddos!

 

All the boys nick names, I am really really bad about using nick names vs given names.

 

All the girls, see we have our nick names too, You hear your given name in my house, you KNOW you are in trouble!!

 

 

The kiddos use this foot stool sometimes in the bathroom, when trying to reach something in the kitchen; or for any other reason their imaginations can come up with.  I have used it for reaching things on shelves and as a time out spot on a couple of occasions. It feels kind of wrong sometimes to use it as a time out chair because they kids and I made it together! :)  We actually get a lot of use out of it.  I didn't put a protective coat on it and the paint has held up just fine.

(yeah I should have posted this a couple months..heck almost a year ago, but I lost the pictures *lol*)