I found a cute brown and pink “saying” t-shirt for $1 at the crafter’s sale and just had to buy it to make into a pillow for a fun-loving scrapbooker I know! One of my handmade flowers covers up a small bleach spot on the fabric and adds a bit of a-la-mode. Easy peasy! ♥
1. INDIEGOGO: How cute are these T-shirts??? Please check out the fun-loving, talented Sheri (center) at her creative blog Awesomesauce and Asshattery (with lots of other info and links here), and then take a moment to watch the campaign video for her innovative Indiegogo business. Hats off to your newest venture, Sheri! ♥
2. LE TRANGO: My bloggy friend Christina of Le Trango is offering this FREE desktop wallpaper HERE and (fingers crossed!) may have new ones for each upcoming month! I just love her whimsical designs and Etsy shop . . . check out this post to read more about this talented artist and find all her links. Thank you, Christina! ♥
3. Design-Her-Gals: In March, I posted that Design-Her-Gals (the fun web site where I make my gravatar gal gift cards and writing business cards) was up for sale. Long story short, they closed, then they found a buyer, and now they’re open again! And, if you’ve visited before, you’ll find all your previous “gals” still in your “dressing room” ready to go! To use Design-Her-Gals, simply pick your “you,” dress and accessorize yer, and put her on business cards, mailing labels, notecards, aprons, mugs, caps, luggage tags, and more. They also have print-order and print-at-home options available. Even if you’re not in shopping mode, you can play on their site and get on their mailing list for special offers. Click here to read about the new owner, Dawn Espinoza. P.S. Some other bloggy friends who’ve created Design-Her-Gals are Doctorate Housewife, A Ponytail Kind of Day, and Boomdeeadda. I just love them all! ♥
When our whole family gathers in over Father’s Day weekend, I want to have some fun crafts that work for *kids* from pre- schoolers to 80+. My latest idea is a decoration that everyone helps create—T-shirt garland! To keep everything handy, I decided to make a kit with all the necessary materials. Then I can simply hang some baker’s twine across the windows and we can pin on our paper T-shirts as we “customize” them.
To make the kit, I first found an empty box that was just the right size. (This one once held a chocolate cake that came in an order one of our kids sent us from Omaha Steaks . . . yum!!!) I cut off the lid and then cut, folded, and glued the lid cardboard to divide the box into four compartments. Here it is with clips holding everything in place while it dried. When the inside was ready, I traced around the outsides and covered them with scrapbook paper, then made a simple word-processed label for the front using clip art and a text box.
Next, I googled “printable t-shirt template” to find a pattern I like and watched a couple of movies while I traced and cut them out on light-colored paper. I also shopped for tiny clothespins and found these at Amazon.com. They’re REALLY tiny—about one inch long—but perfect for hanging paper items. I also found a small empty jar in the pantry to store them in since we’ll need to keep them safely away from the babies and toddlers. (I later glued three of the pins to the lid for a-la-mode.)
Finally, I added markers, crayons, and colored pencils for creating the T-shirt designs. Since I already had these and the paper on hand, my only expense was the clothespins—and they’re so cute I probably would have bought them anyway. 🙂 I’ll be sure to show you a photo of our garland after everyone is here! P.S. I think this would be a fun way to commemorate family activities over the summer, too . . . books the kids read, trips to the beach and zoo, special treats they get to eat, and that sort of thing. If only I’d thought of that when MY kids were little! ♥
As you know from my Shop Love! posts and page, I’m all about supporting small businesses.
That hasn’t changed!
But . . . I found a “big” business item that I just have to share!
I bought these gorgeous scarves from the Kohl’s Cares Jennifer Lopez Collection for FIVE dollars . . . and ONE HUNDRED percent of the net proceeds goes to breast cancer research!
The collection includes other scarf designs, too, as well as t-shirts, pajamas, tote bags, jewelry, and other items . . . all priced at $5, $10, or $15.
Who doesn’t love fun and affordable accessories??? Oh, and if you haven’t already, please visit my other recent “accessory” post and sign up for the Origami Owl blogger locket giveaway! ♥
March 2 is Dr. Seuss’s birthday! When I taught first grade, we always celebrated by wearing Dr. Seuss T-shirts, cooking green eggs and ham in the classroom, and reading all the kids’ favorite DS books. But now that I’ve moved on to a different career, I decided to use this well-loved T-shirt for my next “What can you make with a . . .” refashion.
My sweet daughter-in-law Christin is getting SO crafty! She made this beautiful blue no-sew spaghetti T-shirt scarf for me after seeing a how-to video on TV. I LOVE it! And, of course, I HAD to figure out how to make one myself! I found a tutorial on Margo Is Crafty that matched it perfectly, and believe it or not I finished it in TEN . . . yes TEN minutes! If you have old or extra T-shirts lying around, try this! And if you’ve already posted a tutorial for a T-shirt scarf, will you please comment with a link so I can add it below? I know there are lots of styles and techniques out there that will be fun to try. Thank you! P.S. Christin used pinking shears to cut her strips to add extra texture, and I used my regular sewing shears. I love it both ways! ♥
Other T-Shirt Scarf Links:
For my one year blog anniversary, I invited you to nominate people you’ve met through the blogging world whom you would like to have as next-door neighbors . . . and to tell why. It was SO heartwarming to read the lovely comments that came in from all around the world! The blogger with the MOST nominations was then invited to send me a once-loved garment to remake into some fun treasures (a-la “What can you make with a flannel shirt?,” “What can you make with a lace tank?,” and “What can you make with a polo shirt?“) and return. The winner was Kelly of Cobwebs, Cupcakes & Crayons! Kelly said, “After the shock wore off I ran to my closet to decide what I was going to send. I chose a little sundress that has a lot of happy memories attached to it, but now that I’m a mama seems a little, well…SHORT. I know that I will never wear it again, so I am very excited to send it off!” So . . .today is the big reveal! In addition, this project will have a permanent home on the “What Can You Make With A . . .” page on my header.
Done! Kelly . . . your package is in the mail! ♥
My To-Do list has had “clean closet and dresser” on it for WEEKS, but I never seemed to find a couple of free hours to cross this one off. Then Kelly at Cobwebs, Cupcakes & Crayons came to my rescue with her “Clutter-Buster Boot Camp”, the perfect solution to helping me solve my problem one small step at a time. Last Friday’s assignment was the T-shirt drawer. I’ve never HAD a T-shirt drawer before, but I do now! Can’t wait for the next project! And it’s not to late to play along, so come join the fun! ♥
This isn’t a *new* project, but I just found the photo and it sweetly reinforced why we all do what we do . . . create special things for special people to show how much we care. I remembered how happy my son Kyle was to get this quilt when he graduated from high school and how many homes it has lived in with him during his young adult years, and I thought about the warm feeling I get when I now see his little girls wrapped up in it watching a movie. I didn’t have a pattern or directions when I made it, so I simply cut out squares from the fronts or backs of T-shirts (mostly team shirts, but a couple from other treasured events), stitched them together, stitched the front to the back with batting in between, and stitched around the squares for “quilting.” The lower right-hand corner also has the T-shirt the pink ladies at the hospital gave us the day Kyle was born. (All together now . . . AWWWWWW! :)) The next time I make one, I think I’ll put fabric strips around the squares to set them apart a bit, like the one I recently saw on LoveLaughLiveMe . . . or maybe I’ll just turn them into pillows instead. ♥
PILLOWS A-LA-MODE 