tulle and tutus

with my niece's birthday being just a short week-ish away - and her party being this weekend - i have been kicking it in overdrive with my auntie duties and godmother roles.  seeing as i physically can't be there for all of the preparation and craziness that is the creation of a first birthday party, i figured i'd hold up my end of the deal and get to town on a little diy: the ladybug tutu.

this can be done for less than $10!
okay, pick your jaw up off the floor, i'm being serious here.
it was a one stop shop for me at walmart picking up:

 red tulle for 98 cents a yard. (i chose to get three yards to be on the safe side)

elastic for around $4 (i chose to get a thicker width seeing as it is for a little one)

black polka dot ribbon by the roll (only $2-$3)

Velcro (i had this previously but you can buy a big pack for about $6ish)

a cinch, no?

and the rest is just as easy as the shopping.  

make sure to measure your little.  my niece was about 14-15 inches around so i stuck with 16 inches, just to be safe.  

the elastic doesn't tend to pull as much once you've knotted the tulle around it. 

fold the tulle in half and cut straight down. the width and length is to your own preference.

(i.e.: the spikier the tutu, the shorter the tulle.)

loop the tulle around the elastic and pull it to a knot.  i double knot just for the extra security and it looks nicer once the strips are all bunched up.

keep on knotting until you are all the way around and leave just enough room to tie to 12 inch ribbons on each side to tie together over the velcro to close.

this makes a nice bow and it covers the velcro nicely.

the end result will look as so - or probably a little better, seeing as a little one will be wearing it.

now go and make yourself an adorable little tutu.

who says that you have to have a little to make one for.

big girls can dress up too.

a little how to

it's old news that i'm a pinning maniac. so when i had to come up with some fresh and innovative ideas to not only save money but to spiff up my classroom for my twenty-four six year olds, i turned to old reliable: pinterest.

rainbow-esque colored clothes pins!

 

now, there was a wonderful tutorial that i found and of course managed to botch up the directions and take probably twice as long. but here is what i found out worked best:

 

1. start off with generic clothes pins. i bought a bag of fifty at walmart for dirt cheap and bought a second bag just for good measure (i was making 25 at the time and two for each student. plus, always leave wiggle room for mistakes.)

 

i tried both the egg dyeing food coloring and the generic shur fine brand - the generic brand takes the gold medal. last, grab some old containers that you might not mind getting discolored.

 

 

2. bring just barely two cups of water (this measurement varies depending on how dark you want the color, less is definitely more) and 1/2 cup vinegar, and the food coloring of your choice, to a boil.

 

*food coloring drops vary. i put the drops in until i had a nice vibrant color. experiment and always start out with less. in the case of the orange and the green, do more of the lighter color (i.e. more yellow than red, more yellow than blue).

 

3.  put the amount of clothes pins you want this color in your containers.  i was making a set of two for five kids, so ten clothes pins in each container.

 

 

4.  pour the boiling mixture over the clothespins.  let this sit until the water begins to cool or until the clothes pins are the color that you prefer. CLOTHES PINS WILL DRY LIGHTER THAN WHAT THEY APPEAR AFTER REMOVING FROM THE DYE.

 

5. lay out paper towels and place clothes pins there to dry.  it took mine about a day to fully dry and i made sure that i switched them to the other side about half way through.

 

*the vinegar will oxidize the metal clip part. no worries, this just gives them that "vintage" look.  if you don't want this look you can pick up clothes dye packets to give it a nice, shiny metal finish. this diy gives a great explanation of the clothes dye packets:  raising oranges blog

 

now go and make yourself some pretty colored clothes pins!

happy saturday!



leaping in the rain

Happy Leap Day one and all and what a down right crummy little rainy day it had to be.  Although the weather seemed to not want to cooperate with the special occasion that only comes around every four years, I did not allow that to stop me.  I spent this day leaping through puddles (not really) and leaping between rain drops (really) in and out of some places, doing some wednesday-esque errands.  I lept in to my absolute favorite cafe for a bite to eat with two of my favorite women: momma dearest and auntie J.  There is nothing more theraputic then a gab-sesh over an unbelieveably delicious lunch (which was fully intended to be caught via picture, but lets face it - I was hungry!) and chai tea.  The entire atmosphere motivated me to complete the very last task on my list of things to do: create a gift tag for a baby shower gift (just a little added touch to personalize the present for mommy-to-be, and honestly - who doesn't love little baby animals?)

Collect all necessary materials.  I chose pastels in pink, green, and blue to match the gift bag, some sweet baby animals c/o Michael's (and my personal stash of scrapbooking materials) and baby pink ribbon (for a baby girl of course!)

After much deliberation as to how you might attempt this, choose some crafty scrapbooking scissors in the same pattern (varying sizes) to cut the paper.  I choose to always cut the same color with the same scissors.

After cutting the white cardstock for the base of the card, cut the chosen color for the background (color 1) and adhere this to the cardstock.  I chose to use glue squares, they stick the best and are easy to apply.  Next add the second color of choice in the place in opposing corners.  Cute baby elephant will find his way to the bottom corner.
*Not seen here:  I chose 3 silver stars to place in the top left corner of the card and punched the hole in the top right with your standard hole punch.

For privacy - I have blurred the names, but that is part 1 of your final step!  Make sure to (neatly) write out who the gift is to (and from!) in the center of the card and slide the baby pink ribbon through the punched hole, attached firmly with a double knot and bow!