Make do March 3...Ballet shoes

My little girl is currently obsessed with all things ballet. She loves Angelina ballerina, wants to go to ballet class every day, will only wear "ballet" skirts and "ballet" shoes and even dances on her toes while twirling. It's the absolute cutest thing!! She is currently obsessed with some "ballet" shoes she inherited in a dress up box but they were well loved before being passed down and are falling apart and only one of each color survived!!! She wears them to bed, in the house, in her boots and has a fit when I have to wash them!!

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I decided to make her a new pair with a pattern I had purchased months ago to make some baby slippers with. I had to adjust the pattern and let's just say it was a learning process....it was my first time altering a pattern so I will spare you the awful first results...mostly cuz they are embarrassing to me :)! After some fiddling I ended up with a passable pair of new "ballet" slippers. But do you think Aria would wear them? No, broke my heart after all my hard work...2 yrs have no appreciation for the things their mothers do for them! :)  I used the material from a scrub top I made yrs ago. I never wore it because I didn't feel like wearing and looking like a tent!!! It was pink and my girl loves her some pink so it was a perfect choice! I used material from a pair of old suede pants as the bottoms so she wouldn't slip all over our wood floors.

She eventually broke down and put them on, only because the other pair was in the wash and now she won't take them off!! Woohoo, success!!

Now I just need to perfect my pattern and make her a prettier pair!

Happy Make Doing!

Nathania

Make Do March 2: Pillows!

Our church held a charity auction recently for a home for women and children who are recovering from abuse, and need help starting over. I was asked to make some things for the auction. I donated some mittens and such, but I had some pillow forms that I had had forever. They needed to be used!

So I looked through my stash and found some blues that went together. I sewed them diagonally and cut them into a square.

I used the tan fabric below for the back.

I had two sizes...large and small. But I forgot to take pictures...oops! This is the smaller one before I sewed up the sides.

The auction was a success! They made a lot of money for the organization, and the auction was fun!

Have you made anything out of your stash recently?

Sarah

Make Do March 2: Bottle cap Magnets

Our first craft of the month! Its super kiddo friendly and easy...only takes about 20 minutes!

First you'll need colored glue! I got mine originally from Dollar Tree and Target....but I'm wondering if Elmer's with some food coloring would work too?

Then get some bottle caps. The twist off kind are best...they aren't bent!

Start with putting the glue high around the edges. As it dries it will slip down some so you want to have adequate coverage.

It will look like a goopy mess.

When it dries though...you get a cool marbled effect! Let dry for at least 12 hours

Attach to a magnet with a glue gun, and hang up some pretty pictures!

 

Happy Make Doing!

Sarah

Make DO March 2013 Edition!

Have you missed us? It's been a busy month around here...not to mention two birthdays, lots of snow, the return of the sun and so much more!  But unfortunately we've been neglectful of this little blog. 

so...what are we gonna do?

Reprise MAKE DO MARCH!!!!!!

Excited? You should be!

What is Make Do March you ask?

It is a month in which we post projects of things we've made, everyday, using the things we have....we are not allowed to go to the store!

Why?

Because we--and I mean everyone reading this too!--have way too much stuff. We all have things we can use to be creative, and often don't need to buy anything else to make a really cool project!

True, some of us hoard fabric, scrapbook paper, yarn, paint....or all of the above. So this month allows us to truly use what we have already!

Who?

You! We want to encourage everyone who reads this to participate.

Do you...

...have a drawer of unfinished projects?

...have enough fabric to give Joann's a run for it's money?

...keep telling yourself that it'll get done this summer?

...want to check out what others are doing?

...have a husband that tells you that you're a hoarder?

Then this is the series for you!

(I officially sound like an infomercial)

Basic Rules:

1. Use what ya got! Don't go to the store to finish a project....this is to decrease the stash, not increase:)

2. You can beg, borrow, steal, ask you mother, sister, friend, brother, etc. for something if you absolutely need it. This is not an excuse to get them to go to the store for you.

3. Link up on Tuesdays...long enough to get a project done over the weekend and upload your pictures! This is not a must, but we would love to see what you're working on.

4. Have fun...if the project is a horrible fail...well we're okay with that too...life's too short not to laugh!

Hope you'll join us!

Sarah and Nathania

Valentine garland

I'm into making hearts this Valentine's Day and love how these ones turned out! Simple and cute and I got to use up some scraps! A perfect little garland for my fireplace.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

Nathania

Ski for women 2013

Every year on Super Bowl Sunday the Anchorage Nordic Association puts on the Ski for Women. It starts with the freestyle and classical races and ends with the Party Wave in which women get dressed up in all sorts of awesome costumes.  Last year I did the race but this year decided to just do the Party Wave with a group after not getting a chance to really ski beforehand due to illness, not enough snow and single digits.  I only ski when it's 10F or above!
       Our theme was Disney Princesses!!!! Yay....having no Disney Princess dresses that fit someone older than 2,  my friend Alecia and I headed to Value Village to see what we could find.  I had no specific princess picked out and was hoping a dress would speak to me and show me it's inner princess.  Four racks in this purple dress shouted out "Jasmine"  to me!  It would take some quick sewing as the Ski for Women was in 3 days but I do my best work under pressure!! :)
  

    
I consulted my sewing consultant, aka my mom with my plan, got the news that it sounded easily doable and set to work. 

I started by cutting the skirt in half and sewing them into legs.  I then hemmed the bottom of my new pants and put elastic in them. Because there was sooo much fabric the legs ended up poofing perfectly!!  I forgot to listen to my sewing consultant and cut and sewed the legs up too far but because the body was soooo long and made of knit material it was not a problem. I pulled the pants down a little farther than I had thought I would and it worked out  perfectly. I then cut the top off and cut 2 more strips of purple off the bodice.  I used one strip for my sleeves and the other for a headband.  I just hemmed the bottom of my new top, added elastic, my little cap sleeves and finally silver see through sleeves.  The silver material was from my wedding, I love using up things I have already!


I also made a silver skirt (not sure what else to call it) to go over my pants to finish it off.  I was very happy with how it turned out, especially since I've never done anything like this before!  I bought a long black wig, big gold earrings and added one of Aria's jewels to my headband and it was done.  I wore a flesh colored tank top under my top to give the illusion of bare skin and it worked perfect!



Alecia found a blue dress and yellow skirt to become Snow White. She added white puffy sleeves that she made with some other left over gauzy material I had, bought a wig  and gloves and the transformation was complete!

Jasmine and Snow White after our ski!  Pretty authentic don't you think?  You know you do well when people identify you by name as you ski by!!!! It was a lot of fun and we can't wait for next year. We're thinking of costumes already!!  Any ideas of what we should do??

Nathania

Circle of Love

With Valentine's Day coming soon I decided to make some decorations for the house. I had been making some small wool hearts for a bunting and decided to make some larger ones with letters on them. I started small with LOVE and really liked how they turned out!!

 I was going to put them on a bunting until I found an old Christmas wreath in the garage. I love updating things so I removed the dusty fake flowers and gave it new life with the heart letters, but that wasn't enough...it needed something else! 

So I added a string of hearts made with some of the many wool sweaters I have laying around the house. 

It was super easy and I love how it turned out.

What Valentine's Day decorations have you been making?

Nathania