Rooty "TUTE" Tuesday - Tshirt Pants

Upcycling is the cool thing these days and I've really been starting to get into it. I love all the creative ideas everyone has with how to completely change a piece of clothing in to something totally different! Making cute lounge pants from an old T-shirt is one of the popular transformations out there. Here are a few links to some tutorials on them.

http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/


http://community.livejournal.com/t_shirt_surgery/3597625.html


http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/2009/09/kojo-tutorial-refashion-tshirt-into.html


And here's what I did!

1.) First you need a pants pattern to use. Or you can just wing it! Check out this old-school pattern my mom gave me...and look at that price!2.) And you need a shirt! You can try to find a shirt where the picture would end up on the leg of the pants or if your pants are small enough, position the pattern so the picture will be where you want it. Since the pants I made were a 4T, I didn't have much choice.3.) Place your pants pattern on the shirt, pin, and cut out.
4.) Fold each leg in half, right sides together, matching up inseams. Sew up inseam. Serge the edge or leave it raw.5.) With right sides together (turn one leg right-side out), put one leg inside the other. Match up the inseams where the crotch is. Fit crotch seams together and pin up both sides of pants to the waist. Sew from back of waistband, through crotch, and to front of waistband. Serge. 6.) Make a casing at the waist. Leave 2" opening in back to put elastic through.
7.) Measure the child's waist to determine length for elastic. Thread elastic through casing at waist. Sew elastic ends together and push back into casing. Sew opening in casing closed and insert tag or ribbon if desired.8.) Hem bottom of pants if necessary. Mine were long enough that I could use the already existing hem of the T-shirt.

9.) And you're done!!!
10.) Put your comfy pants on your cute kid and have a PHOTO SHOOT!!!

Daisy Chain Ruffle Skirt

When I was in Utah a few months back I splurged and bought a few snippets of Amy Butler's Daisy Chain fabric...I love it!! I wanted just enough to make a cute little ruffle skirt and here it is. It's a little too big for Bryn right now...but it will be perfect for spring....and it goes well with her Tropical Getaway tank! I'm a little addicted to little girl's skirts right now...I need to work on some other things...like decorating ideas for my bedroom makeover!

p.s. Do you know how much I would love a new camera...these pictures
just aren't doing justice. *sigh*

Rooty "TUTE" Tuesday - Mod Podge Ceiling Fan

Thanks to Amy, over at Mod Podge Rocks, for featuring my Mod Podge Ceiling Fan...go check her blog out here!




I can honestly say that, as far as I know, I came up with this idea all on my own! That really is a lot to be said since most of the time I can't take complete credit for anything! Usually I see a cute idea and copy it and make it my own. But, THIS FAN!! I think maybe I might have, could have, hopefully did really come up with this all by myself (notice my still lacking confidence). So, when we were finishing our basement and finishing up projects in my favorite room in the house, my hubby was installing a ceiling fan. As he was about to put the blades on the whole fan base part, a light bulb went off in my head! I asked him "would it hurt the fan or start it on fire if I added some fabric or paper or something to those blades?". He thought I was crazy, but couldn't think of a reason why it should mess anything up. So, I delayed him from finishing his installation so I could snazzy-up those fan blades. Here's what I did:

Materials needed: paper (I used scrapbook paper and needed one 12"x12" piece for each fan blade), mod podge (I used Matte finish), hole punch, sponge brush (the cheap-o ones at Michael's Craft store)

1.) If you are using scrapbook paper (12"x12") cut in in half and tape it together end to end to make it long enough. Make sure whatever the print on the paper is, that you are able to match it up pretty good so you can't see the line. Wrapping paper may work well b/c you won't have to piece it together.

2.) Lay fan blade face-down on back of paper.

3.) Trace around fan blade and also trace inside the holes where it will be attached to the rest of the fan later.

4.) Cut out fan blade shape from paper. Check your fan and see if the edge is curved a little, if so, cut out shape a bit inside the lines.

5.) With paper punch, punch out holes that will be used to screw blades onto fan. I used this scrapbooking punch:
6.) Wipe down surface of fan blade and spread on a thin layer of Mod Podge or watered down white glue.

7.) Lay down paper on fan blade making sure to line up all edges and punched holes just right. Smooth out all bubbles or wrinkles (I did not do this well, you can learn from my mistake :) Let dry 20-30 mins.

8.) If needed, trim excess paper from around fan blade with Exacto knife.

9.) Coat the top of the blade with the paper on it with Mod Podge. Make sure to do the edges and holes too.

10.) Let dry.

11.) Do a few more coats of Mod Podge, making sure to let dry thoroughly in between coats.

12.) Once they're all dry, go attach the blades to your ceiling fan and see how it livens up the room...so fun!

I can only imagine how fun this could be to tie in your ceiling fan with the room decor! It could be spunky or subdued, sparkly or subtle....so many possibilities!

And the WINNERS are....

#1 - Kizzie, she said "Oh my goodness, I LOVE ribbon!
I just became a follower of your blog."

#2 - It's Just Lisa, she said "Hey There. Count me in:)"

#3 - Charlotte, she said "yea!! i love ribbon too! i am already a Follower! :) this is a "crazy good" giveaway!! thanks so much for a chance tot win!xo"

Congratulations to you three ladies! Unfortunately, I didn't see an email address on any of your profiles! I don't have any way of contacting you! Please leave a comment on here with your email address, or email me directly! Thanks!

I also wanted to thank everyone for checking out my blog! This blog has been a lot of fun and I love seeing everyone's blogs and creativity! There are sooo many fun ideas out there...I don't know where to begin!

Cutest Cupcake EVER!!!

My awesome friend, Tami, brought me this totally perfect birthday gift yesterday....the cutest cupcake EVER!!! She made it from Sandi Henderson's pattern and she did an awesome job! It's the "high calorie" version and so it's quite large! I will never need a new pincushion again...i love it!!! Thank you sooo much Tami....you're the best!!!!

Rooty "TUTE" Tuesday - Pen Holder

Here is a super simple and cheap way to keep all your pens and pencils in one place! The sky's the limit with this, you can make it as simple or fancy as you wish!
Here's how to do it:

Pen Holder TutorialMaterials Needed: juice tub container (like crystal light), Mod Podge, brushes, paper, ribbon

1.) Measure Juice container (or whatever container you want to use) and cut paper to that size.
2.) With brush ( I use these cheap foam ones ), spread thin layer of Mod Podge on back of paper. If you can see the juice label through the paper, either try to remove it or put one more layer of plain white paper on the container first...like this:

3.) Then paint thin layer of Mod Podge on back of decorative paper and carefully wrap paper around container.
4.) Mod Podge one coat over the decorative paper. Let dry 20-30 mins. Coat container 1-2 more times, letting dry in between.
5.) With hot glue gun, glue ribbon on top and bottom of paper. You may want to use Fray Check at the ends to prevent fraying.

6.) Decorate it more if you want...or leave it how it is! Put some pens and pencils in there and put it on your desk to look pretty!

***Stay tuned for next weeks Rooty "TUTE" Tuesday, we will be
featured on a totally amazing blog!

BIRTHDAY 'RIBBON - MANIA' GIVEAWAY!!!

Tomorrow is my birthday, so I thought I would celebrate by giving out gifts! I LOVE GIFTS AND I LOVE RIBBON!!! Do you love ribbon as much as I do??? There is an Offray ribbon outlet in Hagerstown, MD. It's a bit of a drive for me, but I've been there a few times in the last few years. This place is AWESOME!!! They don't have a huge variety of ribbons, but they have a TON!! You can definitely find plenty to buy there, but not necessarily everything you may want or need. Since it's an outlet, the ribbon may have some defects (not usually though) and is sold by the TON, like 50-100 yards!! Every time I go, I spend too much money but am totally happy with all the ribbon I get b/c it's super cheap!! This time around was no different. My friend, Tami, and I found a bunch of rolls of ribbon on a $1.25 table...rolls of 50-100 yards....for a DOLLAR TWENTY FIVE!!! At a normal craft store it's like $3 for THREE yards!! They're crazy good prices!! So, I bought a ton this time and I thought I would share! So, here's the giveaway:

I'm going to give 10 different 1 yard cuts of ribbon each to 3 different followers of my blog! That's THREE WINNERS!! They will be random cuts, so you don't know what you'll get...it will be a fun surprise! If you're not already a follower, quick sign up and leave a comment. If you already follow this blog, just leave a comment letting me know. To get an extra chance to win the ribbon, announce this giveaway on your blog with a link and then leave another comment. I'll announce the winners on Friday, the 18th (my little Bryn's birthday). Good Luck!!

Rooty "TUTE" Tuesday - Tropical Getaway Tank

When I saw this tank at Target for 87 CENTS, I had to get it! I knew it would be perfect for experimenting with
fun applique ideas.

Here's what I came up with: And here's what I did to make it:

materials: tank top (mine was size 4/5T), pink fabric scrap, green fabric scrap, 3 buttons, (6") of 1/8" elastic, ribbon, wonder under, fray check, sewing essentials (machine, thread, scissors, etc)

1.) Iron a 7"x7" square of wonder under to wrong side of green fabric. Iron a 7"x7" square of wonder under to wrong side of pink fabric.
2.) draw palm leaves drawing on wonder under on back of green fabric. Draw curved palm tree trunk on wonder under on back of pink fabric. Feel free to use other colors if you want too! Make sure to see how big your tank top is and use that to determine how big you want to draw your palm tree.
3.) cut out shapes.
4.) peel off paper backing of the tree trunk. Place about center on tank front. Iron on.

5.) starting at top of tree trunk, sew a straight-stitch (or other decorative stitch if you want) along whole length of trunk, close to the edge.

6.) peel off paper backing of palm leaves. Place on top of tree trunk, slightly overlapping. Iron on.

7.) straight-stitch around entire palm outline, close to edge, making sure to back-stitch at beginning and end.

8.) sew on 3 buttons in center of palm leaves.
9.) To get the cute cinched look at the side of the tank. Sew a 3" piece of 1/8"elastic to both sides of tank. Start at the bottom of each side seam and sew the elastic down while stretching it out all the way. Make sure to back-stitch at beginning and end of elastic.
10.) Tie 2 bows out of coordinating ribbon and sew to bottom of each side seam. Cut tails of bows and treat with Fray Check.

You're done!!! Now take your little girl somewhere Tropical in her cute new shirt!

This post was added to Get your CRAFT on! at Today's Creative Blog (don't you love the name of that...hmmm, sounds familiar).