Handwriting w/o Tears Giveaway on my New Site

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know, now that I'm homeschooling, I've been working hard on building my new site where I'll be posting education-related activities that we are currently working on, as well as those I did while I was in the classroom teaching.

Come on over for a chance to win a Handwriting Without Tears Student Workbook. Would love to have my friends here, become my friends there!

Visit me at www.nodoubtlearning.blogspot.com

Cake Platter

I’ve been throwing around the idea of combining a wine glass with a plate to create a platter.  Over the past year (and now with Pinterest) I’ve seen a variety of different takes on the glass/plate combo, so I finally gave it a try using this tutorial over at Joy’s Hope.  I tried out her color combination too – it seemed so bright and cheery!

I visited the local Goodwill, where I picked up a glass (a little over $1), and found a plastic plate on clearance from Target (only about 65cents!).

I spray painted them both and after drying used E6000 to glue them together in the center. 

Here’s a look from the bottom up at the glass and then a picture from the top down of the plate (I love the swirl):

I like the bright combination, but I think I’d like to try it without the spray paint – I think it would be more realistic to use around food products.  Regardless, now I have the perfect cake stand for my daughter’s birthday cake this week!

Hair Accessories

After sewing up yesterday’s Valentine’s Day skirts, we needed some kind of hair accessories to match, so we made several.  First, we made a small Hello Kitty basic boutique bow, using this tutorial I’ve used previously from Girly Things.

Next, we made a mini korker bow using a combination of Hello Kitty ribbon and pink zebra striped ribbon.  This one is fuller than the last few I’ve made, so I’m really happy with how it turned out – in fact, I used over 50 two inch strips to assemble it.

Finally, I made a headband using some flowered trim and skinny elastic.  Easy peasey!

So, now we’re all set!  We’ve got three new hair accessories to give holiday style to our Valentines skirts!

Bordered Valentines Skirts

Craftiness hit this weekend! Not only were we busy making Valentines for family and friends, but I was able to sneak in sewing time to put together some Valentine skirts for the girls. Notice how the girls' prints are opposite each other? Perfect coordination!

The first skirt I made for my 5 year old using a main fabric of 12.5"x44" and a folded fabric border of 6"x44".

The second I made for my almost three-year-old using 11"x44" and a folded border of 5"x44". Unfortunately, she was not up to posing, so I snuck this picture of her skirt while she was engrossed playing dolls.

Now we're contemplating making matching hairclips and a hair band. It's so much fun to have a relaxing and crafty weekend!

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Cookie Making Aprons Part 2

We spent Christmas in Tahoe with extended family and one of the activities I organized was a cookie baking event.  And...because we were making cookies, we HAD to have aprons!  My girls already had theirs from the end of November, so I got busy making aprons for the adults....and really, that's what I've been working on for the past month in amongst Christmas activities and packing/preparing to head up the mountain.  I ended up making 4 aprons using Easy Sew B5125 with the thought that I would give one to each of the women who were there (boy, was that sexist in retrospect!).

I absolutely loved the fabric for the aprons...I ended up using all red and green combinations.  Here's the one I ended up with at the end of the night....unfortunately I was scrambling, so didn't get a picture of all the aprons together before they were handed out.

My absolute favorite part of the cookie making event was that the men stepped up to the plate and wore the aprons!  They were completely into making their cookies for the event and not so shy about dressing up to do so!  It was a fun time and we definitely ended up with more cookies than we needed for Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed their own sweet treats!

Linking up to A Crafty Soiree, Look and Me I'm So Crafty, We Did it Wednesday

Cookie Making Aprons

We're kicking off the holiday season over here by making Cookie Making Aprons! 

I found such a cute half apron tutorial from Finding My Feet.  The ruffles really reminded me of the Market Skirts I made the girls earlier this year (still one of my favorite projects).

Because I'm starting to get into the holiday spirit with Thanksgiving a few days away...my mind has wandered to Christmas already...and the cookies!  I am so excited the girls will be old enough to *really* help make a variety of cookies (well, my two-year-old is obsessed with licking the spoon, so I'm not sure what help she'll be, but we'll see).  All the more fun, we're going to be at a cabin surrounded by family.

So, yesterday my daughters each chose which fabric they wanted from my stash box...so this project's only cost was a little bit of time.  I cut the fabric yesterday and assembled the aprons today.  They came together really quickly.

My four-year-old's skirt is Christmas angels with polka-dot waist ties and ruffles.

My two-year-old chose stockings for her main fabric, with both red waist ties and polka-dot ruffles.

I think we'll have to try the aprons out for Thanksgiving pie baking tomorrow, just to make sure they work ok! :)


Linking to:
Sew Cute Tuesdays, Show Me What Ya Got, Show Off Your Stuff, We Did it Wednesday, Crazy Cute Link Party

Ribbon Tutu

I thought making a tutu using elastic was easy, but I found an even more simplified tutorial!  This no-sew tutorial requires only ribbon and tulle. 

The ribbon is cut 3 times as long as the waist measurement, with knots tied a third of the way from each end.  For example, the one I made was a 21 inch waist (middle) with 21 inches on each end. 

The tutorial explains how to cut the tulle, using a rolling method, which I found helped me create straight cut lines.  (I cut at every 4 inch interval, instead of every 3 inches).  The finished product results in a tutu that is tied around the waist with a bow.

What I loved about this tutorial is that while I was tying the tulle, the ribbon provided more resistance than the elastic I had used in my past tutus.

Front

Back

Since this was a gift, I also included two homemade bows that matched the tutu.  The first one I made using this tutorial, since it involved using my remaining tulle.

The second bow I made using one of the bow tutorials over at Girly Things Bows.

 The gift was received well and already has been worn to ballet class!  Success!

Halloween Hair Clips

Who's got fall spirit this year - I do, I do!  I've been busy this morning adding to our hair clip collection!

The first clip I made using the second pumpkin clip tutorial from Girly Things Bows.

I like the fact that the pumpkin is wide and the ribbon creates the effect of a filled-in pumpkin.

The second pumpkin I made loosely uses this first tutorial from Girly Thing Bows and is a super easy version of the pumpkin.  It's probably the quickest version to make, especially if you cheat, like me, and instead of cutting separate ribbon, just continue to loop the ribbon around in circles and glue the top points.

My absolute favorite clip is the third one.  I made this clip using the tutorial from Delicate Construction.  Doesn't it remind you of a one of the large Cinderella pumpkins?

 I love the fact that it is three dimensional too, which adds  a ton of character.

 Hooray for fall pumpkins!

  

Halloween T-shirt Dress #2

My two-year-old's Halloween dress has been finished!  Again, this was a t-shirt attached to three tiered circle skirts, following the same pattern we used for my oldest daughter. 

The top tier fabric was chosen because she was ogling her sister's purple layer and kept trying to put on the unfinished circle skirt over her clothes.  It didn't quite work the way she had envisioned because of the lack of a waist, so I took it as a hint and made her top layer in the same fabric (after some chuckling to myself). 

The bottom tier was this year's special theme for my daughter - spiders.  She's enthralled, terrified, and entranced by spiders (hence, the spider costume we made for Halloween).  She's developed such a love-hate relationship, and I would venture to say that she's leaning more towards the love side.

My favorite part of the dress is how the lower part flounces out around her when she sits.  HER favorite part of the dress is that it "matches" (coordinates) with her older sister's dress.

The absolute best part of all is that it has been a hoot hearing the girls converse with one another about how each other's dress turned out, completely happy with their own, yet so positive and supportive of each other's. 

It's moments like these that warm my heart to see my daughters blossoming into such happy little friends.  I absolutely love watching them grow up!

Linking to:

For the Kids Friday

Fantabulous Friday
Show and Tell Saturday
Weekend Wrap-Up
Show off Your Stuff!