What do you get when you cross a toddler with a purple crayon?

A big purple mess, that's what.

I was home with my 2-year-old on Monday and Tuesday. She came down with a stomach bug, which we discovered on our way to work when she decided to share the entire contents of her chocolate milk bottle all over her car seat. If there's one thing I can't handle, it's vomit. ESPECIALLY in the car.

I'll spare you the details, but I immediately drove her home and plunked her in the bath tub. Since I knew there would be more of the same, I began making a pile of soiled clothes in a basket in the living room to wash later and avoid doing 20 loads of laundry. The McCaffreys are helping to save the planet one load of laundry at a time! This turned out to be a good strategy, as my 2-month-old decided that he didn't want to be left out and proceeded to blow out his diaper, consequently earning himself a bath as well.

The clothing pile grew.

Throughout the day I added messy clothes, carseat covers, changing pads, and couch cushion covers to the basket. After both kids were in bed, I took the laundry pile to the washing machine and dumped it all in. There was no way I was sorting everything into piles of Lights and Darks. There was only 1 pile: Gross. I set the machine to wash everything on cold and when the cycle was done, tossed it all in the dryer. I went to bed that night hoping for a full night's sleep, free of any bodily fluids.  

The next day my daughter woke up her happy, energetic self again. While I was rejoicing in the end of  the Great Stomach Bug of 2011, my husband walked into the kitchen with some interesting news.

"The dryer is blue."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"It's blue! The dryer is blue and purple, and I found THIS in the washer." Holding up a badly mangled blue violet crayon. "You need to be more careful with what you put in the wash."

Yes, because my idea of fun is to toss a purple crayon into the washer with a load of soiled clothes and then spend the next morning trying to scrape wax off my clothes and the drum of the dryer. I like to live on the edge like that. It's not for everyone.

Needless to say, I discovered that Haley, in the midst of her supposed sickness, found enough energy to hide a crayon in the basket of dirty laundry on the floor as she was coloring the previous afternoon. Of course, since the clothes were all puke-y and covered in other grossness, I didn't bother to sift through them.

Did you know you can get out crayon stains with WD-40 and dish detergent? Me either. Until yesterday.

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!

Love is in the air

Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loved ones!

A Fresh Beat Band Birthday - Invites

Whew! Say that 5 times fast!

Friends, it's time to go bananas. If you recognize that line, then I know you must have kids...or a lot of free time. As I've mentioned before, my daughter is obsessed with the Fresh Beat Band, so of course they will be the theme of her upcoming 2nd birthday. Unfortunately since the show is still so new (it's currently in its second season), there aren't any commercial party supplies being sold yet. I've found a couple different sites like this one with moms like me who have improvised their own Fresh Beat Band birthdays and their suggestions have been helpful, but ultimately I've come to realize that I'm on my own.

Over the next 3 weeks, I'm going to be doing my best to come up with ideas for the most stylin, hip hop and poppin' Fresh Beat Birthday. Brace yourselves. Will my (almost) 2-year-old remember this? No. Will I take lots of pictures of the theming to remind her of all the time and effort I put into creating a birthday centered around her favorite show? You bet.

First thing's first- birthday invitations! Like I said, there aren't any Fresh Beat Band birthday products out there (except a few odds and ends on eBay) so I had to get down and dirty with Photoshop. I found an image I liked online and then used Photoshop to clean everything up and add in some catch phrases from the show. I'm not a graphic designer, so it's still a little pixellated, but that's probably just my perfectionist side coming out.

Here's the front of the card (Image courtesy of Nick Jr.)...

 ...and this is the back.

Not too shabby huh? I'm pretty proud of my Photoshopping skills. I think I've graduated beyond "complete hopeless amateur" in the past year. And whatever I can't do, I just go to Picknik.com for the rest. If you haven't been there, stop right now and go. It's an amazing site for those of us who don't understand the complexities of Photoshop. Plus, they have fun stickers and frames you can add to your pictures. AND it's free for the basic version! I used Picnik for the pictures in this post to colorize and brighten them.

That's all for now, hopefully I'll get to some decorations tonight!

Childhood

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,

Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed.

Once I heard and answered all the questions of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow,

Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?

-Forgotten Language, Shel Silverstein

The Strawberry Sea Monster

My husband hasn't been feeling well for the past 2 days. This is a bad thing because one, who wants to feel junky anyway? and two, he turns into a 5 year-old boy when he's sick. He lays around on the couch most of the time and when he does get up, he shuffles around the house all sad and mopey like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Sick Pat happens whenever he has any kind of illness. This can range from the flu to coughing a couple of times one day. Luckily, we've discovered the Strawberry Sea Monster.

When we were first dating, there was a day when Pat started feeling a little sick. To do his part to battle oncoming sickness, he decided to go to the grocery store to find something to help boost his immunities. The conversation went something like this:


Me: "Did you find something to help your cold?"
Pat: "Yeah, I got a 'Strawberry C Monster'"
Me: *blank stare*
Pat: "What, have you had it before? Is it gross?"
Me: "That just seems like a weird name."
Pat: "I think it's a good name, it reflects how it attacks your sickness with vitamin C."
Me: "I wish you could see what I'm imagining right now."


Thanks to the wonders of Paint, now you can.

What sickness wouldn't flee from the Strawberry Sea Monster? The 3 eyes, the furrowed unibrow, the pointy horns....probably the only thing that works against this beast is the fact that his name is lacking intimidation. Maybe that works out in his favor though. The sickness is all, "Psh, why should I be afraid of something with the word "strawberry" in it?" and then BAM! Complete eradication.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the Strawberry Sea Monster is actually a drink. And it's spelled "C Monster" instead of "Sea Monster."

I know, you were imagining a giant pink monster with a unibrow too, weren't you?