Painted Rain Boots

*****Updated on April 18, 2011*****

Polly at Helping Little Hands has been hosting a Read Along on her blog this month to celebrate National Reading Month, and I'm so thrilled to be a part of it!

It wasn't hard for me to choose which book I wanted to use for the read along. My 2-year-old is still learning how to read books and not destroy them, but every once in awhile there's a book she'll actually sit still for.  The Rainy Day by Anna Milbourne and Sarah Gill is one of our all-time favorites!

My favorite thing about The Rainy Day is how it encourages kids to go outside and explore. My daughter loves being outside (she is so much like me!) and that includes being outside on rainy days. What's more fun than jumping in the biggest puddle you can find?

And with all those fun puddles to jump in, you have to have rain boots. So why not make some cute rain boots your child can decorate themselves? And while you're at it, make some for yourself!

Ok, so my daughter didn't actually decorate these, I did. The problem is that she has the attention span of a 2-year-old. Probably because she is a 2-year-old. If your kids are old enough they would have a great time decorating these! Otherwise, just grab some supplies and make whatever design you want!

 All you need is some of tubes of fabric paint a pair of rain boots, and some clear, flexible sealant. The greatest part is that you have the freedom to paint whatever pattern or picture you want on your boots and if you don't like what you just drew, just take a paper towel or a Q-tip and wipe if off!

After you're done, cover your boots with a couple of coats of clear sealant, like Mod Podge, and let dry (there may be a better sealant out there - any suggestions??). This project can be as short or as long as you want it to be. It took me under an hour or so to decorate my daughter's boots with lady bugs. And obviously, you don't want to heat set the paint or it'll melt your boots! Just let the paint dry in the open for as long as the bottle states then cover with your sealant. Let the Mod Podge dry for as long as the bottle states, then add a second coat. I found the uncoated kind, like the black ones below, work best for this project.

When you're finished, just find the nearest puddle and....

 I made myself a pair too. These took MUCH longer (probably around 5 hours or so spread out across a few days) because I chose to doodle a bunch of intricate flowers on them and let them dry in between. Then (because I'm a self-proclaimed perfectionist) I had to copy the pattern on the other boot to make them look symmetrical. But if you're not anal like me, you can always just doodle all over your boots to your heart's desire.

Now go outside and explore with your child on a rainy day!

It's hard to find plain, affordable boots out there! These are the rubber boots I purchased for myself on Walmart.com. I did a search for some plain rubber kids boots and found these, which look like they'd be perfect.  

When applying the paint, paint it on pretty thick to lessen the chance of your drawn lines breaking during the natural bending of the rubber as you walk. I painted some of my lines on too thin and they broke so I had to repaint them. 
 
**I've had some problems with the paint peeling on my boots because of the natural bending of the boots as I walk. The Mod Podge helps contain most of the paint, however I'm wondering if there is a better sealant out there, one that's more flexible? There's a tutorial HERE at Morning by Morning Productions where she sprayed a spray adhesive to her boots before painting, which would probably be more effective, then coated it with a clear sealant.

Thanks again to Polly at Helping Little Hands for hosting the Read Along. You can visit her blog to see all of the books and corresponding projects that people chose to celebrate National Reading Month.

I'm linking up here:

• Craft Gossip
• Be Different...Act Normal
• One Pretty Thing
• U Create
• Sew Much Ado
• Someday Crafts
• Tip Junkie
• Tatertots and Jello
• Skip to My Lou 
• Momnivore's Dilemma

Lucky In Love shirt

I've been wanting to make a St. Patrick's Day shirt for my son but I couldn't decide on what I wanted to do. Of course I put it off so long that I needed to find something that would be quick. As I was surfing the blogosphere for St. Patrick's Day ideas the other day, I was lucky enough to stumble upon these Lucky In Love printables over at Agape Love Designs.

It's already a great printable, but I thought it would make an even cuter shirt. After making one for my son, I think I might have to make one for myself! Here's how to make one for your little lucky charm.

 Supplies:

• Plain white shirt (I used a onesie)
• Black fabric paint and paintbrush
• Freezer paper
• X-Acto knife
• Green knit fabric scraps (I used an old t-shirt)
• Sewing machine and thread
• Needle and white embroidery thread
• Iron and ironing board 

Step 1: Print out the Lucky In Love image at Agape Love Designs. Use the shirt you want to use as a template for how big you would like the design to be. For a 0-3 month onesie, a 5x7 size was big enough for me. I chose to crop out the "lucky in" wording because I thought the shirt would be cuter without it.

Step 2: Trace the image onto a piece of freezer paper on the paper side. Make sure you don't draw it on the shiny or else you'll have to start over again. Trace the clover on a separate piece of freezer paper and set aside.

Step 3: Cut out the image. Place the freezer paper onto a cutting mat and use an X-Acto knife to carefully cut out your lettering. You don't need to cut out the clover. Let's ignore the fact that I did that :)

Step 4: Iron the paper to your shirt and paint letters. Using an iron and ironing board, set the heat to medium with no steam and iron your freezer paper lettering to your shirt, shiny side down. Check to make sure all of the edges of your lettering have been ironed down so paint doesn't leak outside of the lines. Also insert a piece of freezer paper, cardboard, or other protective material inside the shirt to protect it from fabric paint leaking through when you paint.

Using a paintbrush and the black fabric paint, paint neatly inside of the lettering, starting from the outside edges and moving in. Let your shirt dry for however long the bottle states. I always get too impatient and just let it dry overnight. It's always worked out fine for me.

When it's dry, peel off the freezer paper.

Step 5: Make your fabric clover. Ok so this part was a little tricky. I originally tried to cut out a clover and trace it onto my green fabric, but it was nearly impossible to see the fabric marker on the clover and even more impossible to cut out the clover. So I came up with a better idea. (There may be an easier way of doing this, but this is how I did it.)

Take the clover that you traced previously on the piece of freezer paper and pin it to 2 layers of your scrap fabric. I used 2 layers because I wanted it to have a very thick, dimensional look.

Now, carefully sew around your clover, picking up the foot and turning your image as you go to get smooth, clean lines. If you have a see-through embroidery foot, use it! Unfortunately, I don't have one so I had to wing it with my regular foot. It took a little longer because I was picking up the foot every few stitches to make sure I was sewing on the lines I drew, but it was worth it because the shape was exactly what I wanted. After you're done sewing, carefully tear the freezer paper off and cut around the edges of your clover.

Step 6: Attach the clover to your shirt. Pin the clover you just cut out to your shirt and use your embroidery needle and embroidery floss to stitch over your machine stitches. This gives the shirt a decorative look and attaches the clover to your shirt. If you'd rather skip the embroidery floss part, you could always just glue your clover to your shirt with some Fabric Fusion or something. I personally like the look of the thick embroidery floss on this project.

And there you have it! Pinch-free St. Patty's day wear!

Then again, who would want to pinch someone so cute anyway?

I'm linking up here:

• Craft Gossip
• Be Different, Act Normal
• One Pretty Thing
• U Create
• Sew Much Ado
• Someday Crafts
• Tip Junkie

Baby Glam: the Rockin' Tie Tee

The Rockin' Tie Tee Tutorial

I know what you're thinking, "Fnally! A project for little boys." I know I know, I can't believe it took me this long either. I'm going to be posting more little boy projects in the near future, I just have to go out and buy some fabric that's actually boy-themed!

Anyways, on with the show. As with the Rockin' Necklace Tee, this project is quick and sewing-optional, and uses fabric paint as the primary medium.

Supplies:

• A plain onesie or t-shirt
• Fabric paint and paint brush
• Disappearing ink fabric marker
• Freezer paper or wax paper
• An iron
• Fabric scraps (optional)
• Fusible web like Heat N Bond or Stitch Witchery (optional)
• Embroidery floss and embroidery needle (optional)

First, turn the onesie inside out and iron on some freezer paper, shiny side down, to the inside front of the shirt. This is to make sure none of the fabric paint leaks through and gets on the back of the shirt (and it will if you're not careful!) If you don't have any freezer paper, insert a piece of wax paper, cardboard, or other protective material inside of the shirt before painting.

Next, use your disappearing ink fabric marker to sketch out a tie design on your onesie or shirt. I wanted mine to be a little messy, so I drew mine with the tail of the tie sticking out. If you don't have a lot of faith in your ability to draw free-hand, you can check out this post for a tutorial on how to fabric paint on a shirt using your own stencil. You can always find an image of a tie on Google.

Next, use your paint brush to apply your fabric paint to your shirt inside the design you drew. Don't goop the paint on, make sure it goes on smoothly and evenly otherwise you'll be able to see spots when your paint dries. Let dry overnight, or for however long the bottle says. If you're using a onesie for this project you may want to apply a couple of coats of paint because the fabric is so stretchy that it has a tendency to stretch apart, exposing white areas. Let the first coat dry for a couple of hours before applying a second coat.

At this point, you are done if you like the shirt as it is, or you can apply other colors of fabric paint to add some extra design if you like (maybe stripes or polka dots?). If you want to make the tie even cooler by adding scraps of fabric and thread to make an argyle tie, follow the steps below.

Take your scrap of fabric and use your iron to iron on the fusible webbing scratchy side down onto the wrong side of your fabric (the side that doesn't have any print on it). Don't skip this step! You can find fusible webbing in any craft store; it helps applique stick to shirts. After the webbing is fused to your fabric, draw 4 diamonds onto the paper side of the webbing and cut out. Remove the paper backing and iron the diamonds onto your shirt.

I didn't take a picture of this step, but you can find more information here about how to properly use fusible webbing and applique. Usually any webbing you buy will give you instructions as well.

Next, you want to mark x's through your diamonds to give you a guide for where you will be sewing with your embroidery floss. Mark a dot in the center of each diamond, then draw your x's in each diamond, meeting at the dot in the middle. Thread your embroidery floss through your embroidery needle, and make a knot in the end. Come up through the middle of one of your x's, and sew several backstitches to form x's in each diamond, extending outside of the diamonds by a stitch or two.

And that's it! Now all you need is a cute baby to put the shirt on. Luckily, I happen to have one of those.

Thanks for stopping by! If you missed it, GO HERE and check out the tutorial for the Rockin' Necklace Tee for girls.

I am linking to these sites: Someday Crafts, Craft Gossip, One Pretty Thing, Tatertots and Jello

Baby Glam: the Rockin' Necklace Tee

Fabric paint is so much fun to work with. You can do so much with it, no matter your skill level. Ever since I discovered fabric paint, I can't stop. And this may be my favorite thing to make yet. 

I came up with the Necklace Tee as a way to accessorize my little girl without the actual jewelry which, as you know, is not so safe for little ones who put EVERYTHING in their mouths. This project is quick and sewing-optional, which makes it great for a quick craft-fix - love those!

Supplies:

• A plain t-shirt
• Fabric paint (I prefer Tulip brand matte fabric paint)
• Round objects of different sizes to use as a stamp - I used the end of a white crayon (use white so you don't mark your shirt), a marker cap, and the end of a Sharpie marker cap
• Freezer paper or something to insert inside your shirt so the paint won't leak
• Ribbon
• Needle and coordinating threa
  
  

Step 1: Prepare your shirt for painting.

First, turn your shirt inside out and iron some freezer paper to the inside front of the shirt, shiny side down. This will help protect the shirt from any fabric paint that might leak through. If you don't have freezer paper, you could always just put a piece of cardboard or wax paper inside the shirt.

Step 2: Stamp your necklace on.

If you want, you can use a disappearing pen to mark where you will be stamping each necklace. I just decided to put aside my perfectionism for once and go for it. Choose one of your "stamps" (I started with the white crayon end) and dip the end into your fabric paint. Blot the extra off on a piece of paper so you don't goop it onto the shirt.

Begin at the top of one of the shoulders and stamp continuous circles side-by-side in the shape of a necklace along the neckline of the shirt. Make sure you blot the end of your stamp regularly so you don't end up with a big goopy pile of paint. If you do end up with too much, just take a Q-Tip and blot off the extra.

Use your different-sized stamps to continue making circles along the front of the shirt. Don't worry about making sure each circle is completely filled in. The inconsistencies and fading make the design look even better. You can make as few or as many rows as you want. You can also overlap the necklaces in some places to give them a "layered" look. You want variety in size and positioning of each necklace, so keep that in mind as you stamp.

 Continue until you feel like you're happy with the design.

At this point if you're happy with the shirt, or if you don't want to do any sewing, let the shirt dry overnight (or as long as the bottle says to). Then, remove freezer paper and wear! If you want to add a little something more though, pull out some ribbon, matching thread, and a needle.

Step 3: Add ribbon.

Cut 3 pieces of thin ribbon long enough to make small bows. If you want to make absolutely sure your ribbon doesn't fray, add some Fray Check to the ends. Tie a bow in each piece of ribbon, and hand stitch a few times through the middle of each bow to secure. Next, choose where on your shirt you would like to place the bows, and then stitch a few times through the bow and shirt to attach.

Voila! Instant baby glam cuteness for your little rockstar! I would love to see your versions if you make them!

For the little man in your life, GO HERE for a tutorial on how to make the little boy's Rockin Tie Tee!

Featured on:

Someday Crafts
Craft Gossip
One Pretty Thing
Tatertots and Jello

Baby Glam sneak peek

Sometimes, a kid needs to accessorize!

Want to learn how to turn a simple shirt into rockin' Baby Glam for your little one using fabric paint and scraps? With just $5.00 and half an hour, you can transform a white t-shirt into this Rockin' Necklace Tee for your little girl. High-fashion for pocket change, what more could a girl ask for?

And don't worry, I didn't forget about the boys.

What's cuter than a baby boy in a tie - and an argyle tie at that?

My first ever boy project! I've been surrounded by pink frilly stuff for the past 2 years, so I decided it's time I stepped out and made some clothes for my little boy. I'll show you how to make this Rockin' Tie Tee for your little guy too.

Both projects are sewing-optional and can be done with only a handful of inexpensive supplies and things you probably already have laying around. Check back soon for the tutorial!

For the love of the Bee

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Haley has an obsession with the bee from the Baby Einstein video "Baby's First Sounds." And when I say "obsessed," I mean to say that there is no other video or show (other than the Fresh Beat Band) that can make this extremely active child sit still for an extended period of time.

If you've never seen this movie before (lucky you, I can recite the whole thing from memory), it's a toddler movie made to introduce small children to their first sounds - baba, mama, ball, and for some reason "marionette" (where do these producers get off thinking "marionette" is a simple baby word anyway??) The main character of the movie is a bee who buzzes around and makes cute little squeaky noises while sniffing flowers and doing other bee-like activities. Pat and I have been forced to watch this movie so much that we just refer to the movie as "The Bee," as in "Haley, want to watch The Bee again for the tenth time today?"

With all this love for The Bee, I wanted to make Haley a Bee of her own! Now let me first say I realize this looks nothing like The Bee from Baby Einsteins, I wanted to try out a pattern of my own.


Bee has big blue eyes and enjoys long afternoons in the garden. She loves honey and buzzing around in the warm afternoon sun.


While I was at it, I thought it would be fun to make Haley a bee-themed shirt to go along with her stuffed Bee. Using some free clipart I found, I made a cute design with a bee and flower and used freezer paper stenciling (I know, yet again) to stencil it on a onsie I found at Wal-Mart for $2.00 - you can't beat that!



You want to make this cute shirt for your kiddo now don't you? Even if you want to make it for yourself don't worry, I won't judge you :) I don't know any fancy way of uploading the file, but I'll attach the picture below if you want to right click and save it to your computer and print it out in the size you need. If you need a refresher on freezer paper stenciling (or if your new to it) just go to my tutorial on freezer paper stenciling here to learn how to paint it on your shirt!