Ruffled peasant top

Confessions of a Sewing Dork has a great tutorial for a ruffled peasant top. I love it. Maybe the girls and I could have coordinating tops.

Easter parade part 2

I know everyone will be thrilled to find out that Easter can be celebrated this Sunday. I finally finished all of the sewing!!!

I am so glad I made shirts to go with the girls' jumpers. They look much nicer than a plain white t-shirt. I used Butterick 3905 and it turned out nicely. I will be tweaking the instructions some to avoid sewing bias tape to the inside of the shirt as an elastic casing, but they were an easy project. This pattern is great for when you only have a little fabric left. I was able to cut a size 5 shirt with an extra inch length out of 1/2 yard. Since K is skinny, size 5 works well for her even though she is normally a 6 or 7.

The purses were made from the skirt leftovers. There was too much fabric to just throw away, but not enough to make anything to wear.

I am so happy to check Easter sewing off my list. I think I will stop to eat before starting the next project.

jezze: Headband tutorial

jezze: Etsy in South Africa

I love this headband. No messy side seams and it doesn't need to slip over your head, so no messy bangs. Definitely a winner!

Button shirt to toddler dress

This great tutorial on Craftster shows how to make the most adorable dress from a button shirt. I already have a couple of shirt set aside for sewing week next week. I can't wait!

Dolly hair pretties

From An Igloo has a great tutorial for making dolly hair pretties. I wonder when I can find time to make some for my girls?

Time for a new chore system

After surviving the holidays and the back to routine blahs, our old chore system fell apart with the nasty virus we have been passing around the last few weeks. Since everyone was getting bored with it, I wasn't too sad to see it go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any plans for a new system, so things are starting to get out of hand around here.

I wanted to use a system that was easy for both the kids ane me, didn't cost anything to set up, offered instant feedback for the kids and daily inexpensive incentives. Sounds simple, right?

I finally decided to use individual cards for each chore for K, M, and A. (D is still just happy to help with anything I ask and E will not participate in anything that I use for the younger kids. I'm still looking for something to motivate E.) I have cards for jobs before and after breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus some bonus cards. For example:

Before breakfast

• get dressed
• put away pajamas
• put away bed cup, book and warmer
• make bed
• brush hair
• clean bedroom

Each child has an envelope for jobs that need to be done and completed jobs. As they complete each job, the card will be moved to the completed envelope. I have all of the jobs for the day sorted by child and time to make it easy to refill for each new time period. I can award bonus cards to behavior or extra jobs. At the end of the day, they can trade their completed cards for a treat.

Treat ideas

• mini marshmallows
• pennies
• time at the park the next day
• computer time

Hopefully by varying the rewards, the kids won't get bored with this system so quickly. 

Baby doll bassinet

I think A would love the baby doll bassinet from Nothing Fancy. Now the question is can I wait until her birthday to make it???

More incredible hair styles for princesses

Since I am woefully uncreative when it comes to hairstyles, I am thrilled to when I find new ideas.

• She Does Hair
• It's a Girl Thing

Fabric paper dolls

Moda Bake Shop has a great tutorial on making "paper" dolls out of fabric scraps. Definitely something to add to the list for A's birthday.

Play kitchen

I have been seeing entertainment centers turned into play kitchens on lots of blogs. I love this idea from Design Dazzle that includes a refrigerator.

Slippers

A received some slippers for Christmas, but M and K have been feeling left out. These bear slippers from Instructables will be awesome for M and D.

K and A would both love these adorable ballet slippers from ikat bag.

It's time to restock the hair bling

The hair frou-frou in our house is getting bedraggled. Thanks to this great tutorial at The Purl Bee, K and A have some cute new barrettes. I can't wait to show them in the morning.

Embroidery sampler barrette

K's Little Keepers of the Faith club needs a project for their meeting next Wednesday, so I have been scouring the blogs to see what looked really good. I have seen several cute heart barrettes, but none had all the stitches that the girls needed to learn. I sketched out a quick design and made a prototype right before karate today. I think it turned out pretty good for a rushed job.

The nightgowns are a hit!

I decided to give K and A their gowns today, so I could see if they fit properly. I hate to make too many things from a new pattern without trying it on. I am savings K's doll gown for her birthday. (Sorry for the messy hair. We had already taken down K's braids for today.)

Learning new techniques

I hate to waste any time or material learning new techniques, so I decided to make a nightgown for K and her doll while learning how to do lettuce edging and adding knit ruffles. My first attempt turned out great, except is was too short for K. I had measured correctly and then decided it looked too long, so I cut off some of the length. Fortunately, it will work great for A.

Then I made one for K (using the original measurements!). Note to self - mark the center of the gown before adding the ruffle.

Finally, I made a gown for K's doll. I really am not that fond of making doll clothes. They are way too small to work on. I think it turned out okay, but I am still not pleased with the neckline. I will have to work on it some more next time. Please pardon the bed-head in the photo. K asked me why her doll had messy hair when she went to bed, but it was brushed neatly when she woke up the last time I borrowed her doll for pictures.

I used the T-shirt patterns I cut for the embellished shirts, but did not add the neck band. The material was a knit duvet cover that had been damaged. The ruffled flowers are the scraps from the volunteer T-shirt. I definitely think we got our money's worth out of that shirt!

Check out all the great projects on Fireflies and Jellybeans Show Off Your Stuff Party!

Felt butterflies

Bugs and Fishes by Lupin: How To: Butterfly Brooches
These are the cutest butterflies! I think they would work great as hairclips also.

Hairdo's for princesses

Princess Hairstyles has some absolutely unbelievable Valentines hairstyles for the princesses in the family. I wonder if I can get K or A to sit still long enough to try them.

Flower Quilt

The Flower quilt featured on Moda Bake Shop is so cute! Maybe this will be the first of 5 quilts that I really want to make this year. I wonder if I could get it finished for M's birthday? Here is another picture that allows you to zoom to see details.

Guilded lace crowns

Bitter Betty has a super tutorial for making crowns. These will definitely be a hit with all of my kids!