Drummer Shirt

Why is it that little girls are so much easier to make clothes for? There are so many cute little skirts, dresses, and ruffled tops out there for girls, but it seems like boys are limited to t-shirts and track pants. Boooooring!

My husband swears by his baseball tees. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get that man to wear a graphic tee. He doesn't like how the graphics look on it because he thinks they make him look "metro," and my guy is a guy who is all about "manly" things like super heroes, guns, and explosions.

Maybe I need to make him a shirt with an exploding super hero holding a gun. I mean, that's gotta be ultra-manly, right? Watch out world, I'm about to revolutionize fashion with my new line of men's clothing featuring exploding super heroes.

A friend of mine has a son who just turned 3 recently so while the idea of a shirt with an exploding super hero was appealing, I stuck to something more appropriate for a 3-year-old. This kid loves playing drums, so I decided to make him a fun shirt with something to do with drums. This is what I came up with: 

I got a Garanimals shirt from Wal-Mart, and used felt to cut out the letters and drum sticks. I love using felt on shirts so much because it's easy to cut and it doesn't fray. Plus, it gives a fun dimensional aspect to the shirt. After cutting the letters out, I just basted the felt onto the shirt with some basting spray (found that at Wal-Mart too) and sewed everything on with black thread.

If anyone is interested in a more detailed tutorial just let me know and I'll put something together. I think this shirt would be really cute with an electric guitar and maybe some lightning bolts or stars on it - because lightning bolts are also very manly. According to my husband, stars are NOT manly. Tell that to Captain America.

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My Memories digital scrapbooking software giveaway!

***This giveaway is now closed***

When My Memories contacted me about doing a giveaway of their digital scrapbooking software, I hesitated because I've always been a TERRIBLE scrapbooker. I have one disgraceful album of magazine clippings and photos thrown together with Scotch Tape, so I didn't want to shame My Memories for life if I screwed things up. When I started reading more about the product itself though, I realized there was no way even I could mess this up.

The setup was super simple, I just clicked a few buttons and done. As for the the actual program itself....let's just say I don't like to read instructions...so I didn't. I jumped right in and began browsing all of the layouts, pages and embellishments. They have a great selection of embellishments like the ric-rac I used below, buttons, flowers, stitching, you name it. And to top it off, they even offer a ton of free downloadable packages on their website.

The hardest part was actually figuring out exactly what I wanted to do. The best part is that you can use the My Memories software for more than just scrapbook layouts. With Connor's 1st birthday coming up, I decided to make birthday invitations!

I used their background and embellishments, and then I decided to make a little monster on the bottom out of several of the shapes they offer. See? No design degree needed. And no Elmer's glue or magazine pages :)


So how bout some free stuff? My Memories has offered to give one of my fantastic readers a free copy of the My Memories Suite software (a $40 value) too!

Here's how to enter:

Mandatory: visit My Memories and check out all of their great selection of digital scrapbooking kits, then come back here and leave me a comment on this post telling me which one is your favorite.

Additional entries: go check out their blog or like them on Facebook and leave me separate comments telling me you did.

Please make sure I can contact you, either by leaving me your email address with your comment or by having your email address linked to your profile.

Even if you don't win, My Memories is giving you all a coupon code that gives you $10 off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value! Just copy and paste the code below when you check out. Merry (early) Christmas!

STMMMS15837

This giveaway is open until midnight on Thursday November 17th, and the winner will be announced here via Random.org on Friday the 18th. Good luck!

Fall Button Tree Shirt

In case you missed my guest post on Tatertots & Jello on the 2nd, here's what I shared! Also, make sure you check back next week...I have a giveaway for all of my awesome readers!

Today, I wanted to share a project with you inspired by my favorite season - fall! This fall button tree shirt is a really easy sew, perfect for beginners. You just have to have lots of patience to sit and hand sew all the button "leaves" on.

Here's what you need:

• Download my free tree pattern HERE
• A shirt
•  Brown fabric for the tree
• Sewable interfacing, like Heat 'N Bond Lite
• Lots of buttons in fall colors
• Basic sewing supplies

First, follow the directions on your interfacing to iron a piece of sewable interfacing larger than your tree image to the back of your fabric. Don't peel the paper backing off yet.

After your interfacing is ironed on, print and cut out my tree template, then trace it onto the paper backing of the interfacing.

Cut out your tree and remove the paper backing.

Using a hot iron, iron your tree onto your shirt following the interfacing instructions. Sew around the perimeter of your tree to secure (use stabilizer if needed, knits can be tricky sometimes.)

Now is where the patience part comes in! Dig into your button stash for some fall-colored buttons. Using a needle and thread, hand sew buttons around your tree until you're satisfied with how it looks. You might want to grab a snack and put on some of your DVR'd TV shows for the next hour or so while you're at it.

After lots of hand sewing, you should have a cute new fall shirt for your little one!

Now go find a big pile of leaves to jump in!

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FroYo Shirts: Guest post with Come On, Ilene!

I found Come on, Ilene! just recently while blog stalking surfing and ever since, I've been hooked. She bakes, she sews, and she had the GREATEST bicycle-themed wedding that you have to check out. The tutorial that really caught my eye was for adorable FroYo shirts she made - I just love all the bead "sprinkles"! I'm so glad to have Ilene here sharing it with you today so you can make one too!

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Hi! I am ilene from Come on, ilene! Thanks for having me here, Jen! I am honored to be guest posting today. My blog is much like Jen's - full of tutorials, recipes and crafts. It's basically a collection of whatever is cooking up in this crazy little head of mine. Here are a few of my most popular posts (click to see full tutorials):


Today, I am sharing with you one of my favorite projects- how to sew frozen yogurt appliques!



We had some friends who were contemplating opening up a frozen yogurt business so I wanted to surprised their daughters with cute little froyo shirts! I'm totally loving this frozen yogurt fad, I could eat a large cup for breakfast! If only froyo stores were open that early. There is a place near our old house in Boston that had this awesome mojito-flavored froyo. Pile mochi on top and I am in heaven!

The froyo design was appliquéd onto plain T-shirts. This is a great project for using up scraps of fabric and mismatched "orphaned" buttons. I didn't have a pattern so I just drew one up with a sharpie. I tried hard not to make it look like a big cup of doo-dee:



Cut out the pattern pieces with scissors:



Then trace the pattern onto your fabric using disappearing ink:



To help the fabric pieces stick to the shirt, I like to back them with Heat N Bond iron on adhesive. You just iron on the paper-backed adhesive onto the back side of the fabric:



Then peel off the paper. Cut out the pieces and iron onto the shirt. The heat will activate the adhesive and bind the fabric to the shirt:



For the spoon, I cut out a silver piece of silhouette heat transfer material and ironed it on.

Now comes the tricky part, embroidering all around the design. This requires lots of patience and slow stitching. I used a zig-zag stitch all around:



Here is a great tutorial on how to appliqué. It definitely takes some practice!

Now comes the fun part! Adding buttons, swavorski crystals and beads as "toppings"! The girls love all things sparkly, so I wanted to add some bling!





And that's it! Two unique froyo shirts for two very special sisters!



Thanks for having me, Jen!! For more of my ideas, come visit me at Come on, ilene!

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How cute are these shirts? Frozen yogurt is all the rage in my town (I can think of 4 separate frozen yogurt places within 7 miles of each other), and I'm definitely a sucker for ice cream myself, so this project caught my eye right away.

Thanks for sharing, Ilene! Go check out Come on, Ilene! and see her other great projects, I'm sure her blog will become one of your new favorites too.

The Rules of Trick-or-Treat

Thank you all for your sweet comments on the passing of my grandpa on Saturday. All of your prayers and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

I know Halloween was a week ago, but I never got around to posting any pictures until now, so hopefully you don't mind some Halloween pictures and a little rant :)

(we never did get one where both of them were looking at the camera)

This is the first time my husband and I took the kids trick-or-treating so I guess you could call us amateurs, but as someone who trick-or-treated until I was 14 (yes, I just admitted that - I like candy!) I like to think I know how this Halloween thing works.

When I trick-or-treated, I followed a few simple rules:

1. Trick-or-treating begins when it starts to get dark.
2. If you plan on giving out candy, put your porch light on. Extra points for people who put their garage lights on too.
3. If you have your porch light on, I will ring your doorbell and ask for candy.
4. If your porch lights are on and I ring your doorbell, don't act surprised that my I am there and offer me a banana in place of candy.

We took the kids around for an hour and they barely got any candy and most people with their lights on said they didn't have any candy for her. I guess maybe Halloween isn't what I remember as a kid. My brother and I would go out as soon as we possibly could, then trick-or-treat until the last minute. The houses with their porch lights on meant "I have candy, come and get it!" Garage lights alone were iffy, those were probably the people hiding in their living room snickering as poor children rang their doorbells in hopes of candy. And if you were one of the people who left out a bowl of candy, I applaud you.

Near the end, my dad would drive us a few miles down the road where the mansions were and we would get full-sized candy bars. We would come back with several bags full of candy and when we got home, we would dump it all on the floor and sort them into categories: Chocolate, Hard Candies, Gross Candy For Mom and Dad (Dum Dums, Tootsie Rolls, etc.) Then for the next year, we would ration our candy out each day until it was next Halloween.

It was still fun, but I guess I'm a little sad that Halloween isn't what I remember. Or maybe I just went to the wrong neighborhood?

Guest posting on The Dating Divas

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! I just wanted to pop in and tell you that I guest posted on The Dating Divas yesterday and shared my tutorial for the Necklace Tee! Sorry for the late notice :)

The Necklace Tee was actually one of the first projects I did when I really started to get into craft blogging more. I had seen these kind of shirts for adults and thought, "Hey, I could totally do that!" Those kind of projects are my favorite kind! They're the ones where you can grab a handful of supplies that you already have on hand, sit down for half an hour, and whip out an awesome project. It's even no-sew - well almost, just a little hand sewing for the ribbon bows. 

So come check me out at The Dating Divas and say hi! And while you're there, check out all the great dates the Divas have put together to bring you and your better half closer together.

Life is precious

Yesterday I lost someone very special to me: my grandpa.

My family has known for awhile that his health was declining, but death is never easy, even when it's expected.

Actually, it came as somewhat of a shock to me on a day that was otherwise typical and ordinary. I got a call from my mom at the end of the work day He was admitted to the hospital due to poor health and the doctors thought that it was probably time for the family to gather to say goodbye. A couple short hours later, he had passed.

We called him "Pappy,"  and he has always been a fun-loving kind of guy, even mischievous at times. He was always making jokes and, even though he had diabetes, I would always catch him sneaking ice cream when my grandma wasn't watching. Maybe that's where I inherited my sweet tooth.

One of the things I was worried about over the past year as his health continued to decline even more was that he might never meet my son. He lived in Ohio, so I saw him only on the holidays when the whole family would get together. He met my daughter on her first Thanksgiving, but since our move to Tennessee, my son had been born and he hadn't had the chance to meet him yet.

This past July, we made a stop in Ohio on the way to visit my husband's family and Pappy got to meet my son for the first time.

While both of my children are still too young to remember, I'm so glad that we made that trip so Pappy could hold both of his great grandchildren.

Even though I know you're in a better place, I'll miss you, Pappy.