Vintage Handkerchiefs Made Into Little Girl Headbands

When I was in high school I went to a garage sale and bought a bunch of vintage handkerchiefs. I love handkerchiefs, because they are just so sweet and delicate, and now I can finally show them off with these little girl headbands. (These are especially good if you have a pretty handkerchief but it has a hole, or stain, because you only need half.) You too can make one of these adorable headbands all you need is...
-handkerchief
-1/2 inch wide elastic
-1 inch wide ribbon
-thread

First cut your handkerchief at a diagonal in half. Then zig zag stitch the edge to keep it from fraying. Now hold the handkerchief over the little girls head that will be wearing this headband and gage how much elastic you need in order to bring the sides together and create the shape of a headband. Keep in mind that the elastic and the handkerchief will be overlapping by an inch and a half on both sides. (My elastic was 5 inches long.) Also, it is good to know that the elastic should be a little tight, because the elastic is what holds it on, the ribbon is really just decoration.

Then zig zag stitch the elastic onto the handkerchief (overlapping an inch and a half over the handkerchief.) **Make sure you sew the elastic close to the edge but not on the edge of the handkerchief, because you will be sewing the ribbon on both sides of the elastic and there needs to be space.

Now, fold the handkerchief in half, and do the same thing to the other side.

Now its time to add your ribbon. (My ribbon was 39 inches) I cut my ribbon at an edge and then I quickly held it to a flame, this will keep the end from fraying. (Of course be careful when doing this. I know that not all ribbons will singe the same, and I don't want to be responsible for a fire.) After your ribbon is all cut and ready, sew it on to the handkerchief. I sewed the edge side first. As you can see in this picture I sewed right along the side of the elastic, not on the elastic.
Flip the handkerchief over and sew the inner side of the ribbon down. (Sew along the side of the elastic like before.)

Hooray you are done, and now all you have to do is find a cute girl to put this on!

Rain Rain Go Away

Well, it is raining in southern California. We have had five days of consecutive rain, and every time we leave the house it is a down pour. The girls have been loving it, as for me it is getting a little old (I know, a girl from Portland is complaining about five days of rain).

Today we celebrated the rain by having a photo shoot. Of course I couldn't coax Quincy out of her favorite outfit. It was a struggle just to get her to wear the sweater. I had to tell her that if she didn't put the sweater on then Isabella was going to hold my cute pink hello kitty umbrella. Oh, the things us parents have to say. Good thing Isabella didn't care what umbrella she held.

Another Amazing Blog: Rose Hip

Just thought I would try to inspire everyone to pick up some crochet hooks. I know after looking at the blog Rosehip, and seeing all her beautiful creations that I feel like crocheting. I love how she mixes vintage with modern. Her use of fabrics, and colors amaze me. I truly envy people who mix patterns and fabric so well. (Sometimes I feel like I feel like I get a little to matchy match.) My girls are getting ready to move to big girl beds and I would love for their beds to be as well dressed as the beds on this amazing blog. Also, if you are good at crocheting she has a tutorial on how to make that amazing flower pillow, and if you are a beginner like myself then you can start slowly and learn how to make some adorable crochet flowers.

I also love her modern take on pillow cases with crochet trim. I never thought that I wanted a pillow case with crochet trim, but I never seen one with such vibrant colors. If you like these pillow cases as much as I do then go check out her etsy sight.

I Heart Miniatures

I have already decided that I am going to remodel the girls doll house. The colors don't reflect the rest of the room, and I just want something a little different. I ran across these doll house/miniatures on ebay. The woman is suppose to be Jane Erye, and the gentleman is Mr.Darcy. I love it! Two of my favorite books represented in these tiny Victorian frames. It is taking everything I have not to bid. I never realized how amazing miniatures can be. I feel like I have discovered a whole other world. A tiny world, and despite its size it has fantastic detail.

Mer Mag Blog

I really enjoy the blog Mer Mag. It is really amazing how artistic some people are. I love how she takes simple everyday objects, and make them special. If you are need of some visual inspiration then go check her out. She also has some great tutorials.
I love this. Thrift plate + ceramic paint = fantastic! I especially love how anyone can make this. It is about being creative not necessarily an artistic.

Another great idea. Just use a fabric marker to specialize your linens.

When you get done with her blog then just head over to her etsy store. I love this poster. It reminds me of all those "Keep Calm and Carry On" WWll posters that are so popular, but I like this one more. It is from a favorite church song, and I would love to have it in my home.

A New Year Tradition

Family Fun posted a great article on family traditions to start this year. There were many great ideas. One idea that I thought would be fun to try, was to put out a jar and then fill the it up with different things that we experience in 2010. On New Years Eve our family is going to open the jar and reminisce about all the things that were said, accomplished, and survived. With a two and three year old in the house I am sure there will be plenty of laughing. God bless and may we all have a wonderful year to remember.

Lola Hair Pin

I am a huge Charlie and Lola fan. It is my favorite and my best cartoon ever! I love that it deals with real kid issues, like losing teeth, or wanting to keep the present that you bought for your friends birthday party. I also love that Lola, unlike other cartoon characters, is always wearing different clothes, and is completely stylish. When I saw this tutorial on how to make Lola clips on Mother Rising I knew that I would be making these for my little girls soon.

A Fun Group Game: Big Booty

I live in the city, and one of my neighbors (across the Street) is a Catholic High School (Well, its a school on one side and a very famous Catholic church on the other side. I even saw Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger coming out of church when I was taking my children to the park one day. He was just a couple of feet from where I stood. This was espeacially exciting for our family, because he was my husband's idol growing up. Cute, huh? To bad my husband was out of town. Just thought I'd share). Well, one day I was walking by and I heard the kids yelling "big booty, big booty, big booty, big booty!" Well, this chanting brought me back to about ten years ago. Big booty was a favorite game at my best friend Mandie's house. Mandie has seven brothers and sisters, and there was always a crowd, and we were always playing games. If you are a big gamer like myself then you should click here and learn how to play, because it is a blast. I know I'll be playing soon.

P.S. You can also go to you tube, and watch clips of people playing Big Booty.

P.S.S. And because I think that every post deserves a picture, here is one of my cute Isabella trying to sit on her booty.

yule logs and glitter bells

Today I will be starting a new topic called garbage not garbage. Ever since I have gotten into blogging I have marveled at what people have made from everyday items. These yule logs and glitter bells are a favorite example of transforming the ordinary into extraordinary. Find out how crafter extraordinaire Lori Marie turned toilet paper rolls, and egg carton cups into these adorable gift containers on her blog pretty little things.

festive felt garland

I found these instructions on how to make this festive garland on Anna Maria Horner's blog. I love the colors she chose for this project. I can easily imagine this hanging in our house during Christmas, or for someones birthday, and when you have a daughter whose birthday is in the middle of December this is a good thing.

Why my Christmas presents were late this year: peg people

Well, here it is my girl's doll house. I got it last year on Craig's list for about $30. I really like it because it came with all the great wood furniture, and you can dismantle the doll house and store it. The problem with the doll house is....

that these were the occupants. They were nice enough kids, but the neighbors were always complaining about all the noise they would make running, skipping, and or course sliding of furniture. It was clear something had to be done. I searched the web and found this shop on ebay called goosegrease. They will even customize your family.

Aren't they so talented. I would have loved to have splurged on these. So inspiring.

And if I was getting married again I would for sure want a set of their customized wedding toppers. Luckily after falling in love with their painted peg people I found out that you could buy unpainted peg families from the same people.

I obviously styled my after goosegrease.

And thanks to their inspiration I think my two families turned out pretty good. Especially considering that I am not an artist.

The girls room

I thought we would take a tour of the girls room. This photo shoot proved to be difficult. I woke up this morning and got to work I needed to take advantage of the light and get in before the girls had to go down for there naps. The problem was that every time I put something away the girls would want it, but we got it done. (I love that dresser. It was an old one from my husband's Mom. It has a mirror that attaches to it, but the last two moves have scratch my poor little dresser, and I need to do some touch ups. I guess that's the advantage of painting your furniture...I own the paint).

I also love for kids to have tons of books. When we lived in Sacramento we had a Goodwill by our house, and they had a great selection. Most of the books I own are from there. It wasn't until I went to another Goodwill out of the area that I learned that not all Goodwill's prices are the same. Oh I do miss the .50 to a $1 days.

I especially love old books. Those I keep up high. It is like a bit of history. Also, I got that carousel from my Dad one Christmas. It seemed special, because I knew he picked it out all on his own, and now all these years later it is in my girls room. So Dads...don't just rely on your wives to do all the gift shopping, because it means so much more when you get involved (This is really for my husband, because I am sure he will be the only dad reading my blog, or the only person).

What a model! Quincy is really getting into posing for pictures lately. Obviously she has a lot to teach me.

And behind our little model are these prints I found at Target 2 years ago, and I loved them. My whole color scheme are in these prints, and they feel young to me. Oh yea, and did I say that these prints were actually Valentine place mats. For only $6 I had three big prints, and they even sparkle. I love it!

I love them so much I went back to Target and found these last Valentines. This time I cut up the translucent place mats and put different shades of card stock behind them.

Okay, photo shoot is over let's play!

I have little skirts on my mind

Well, as the rest of the country suffers winter's wrath I am enjoying my first winter in sunny So-Cal. In fact it has been so sunny that my thougts are already turning to summer clothes for the girls, and I have skirts on the mind. I found this amazig skirt tutorial from The Polka Dot Chair, and belive me when I say that I will be making this....twice.

Grandparents gift: embroider childrens hand prints on tea towels

I thought I would share one of the gifts that I gave the grandparents this year. I had seen on different blogs where people had posted hand prints that they had stitched and framed (one pretty thing had an example of this). I liked this idea but both of my parents have plenty of things on there walls and didn't need any more. Then I came up with the idea of using a plain tea towel. Well, like usual I was running out of time, and ended up getting these old fashioned flour towels at Jo-Annes. This was so easy. Just trace your kids hands on cardstock, cut out template, trace template on fabric with sewing pen, and backstitch. I also blanket stitched around the edge.To me it is the perfect gift, because it is functional, easy, sentimental, and cheap!
P.S. Who knew my kid's first initials made IQ.

A New Year

It's a New Year, and I am starting my 2010 with my new blog. It will be full of all the things I love my girls, husband, crafts, things I want to buy, and things I want to do. I hope you enjoy and are patient as I learn.

By the way, this is what my girls were doing when I started my blog. I love that Quincy looks like she is really reading as she points to the words. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter because she tells a good story all on her own.