Sorry!

Well, things have been crazy here. My littlest ones got so sick we had a few ER trips, 2 trips to the Dr's office...it was a disaster!

I am trying to catch up to myself here..but it's a lot of work to do.
first, I wanted to give you all this link on how to make a basic tutu: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambrosialove/522118984/

Now, to get the diamond shapes over the tutu, tie on a different color (or same if you like) every say, 3-4 ties/knots making sure it's an even number. but then, cut yourself a whole mess of little ribbons to tie them. i like them about 3 inches long. take two of the strips you tied for the diamond and tie them together with a ribbon a couple inches down from the waist. then take the next two and do the same until all around you have tied them all into pairs. then, about 3 inches or so down from those ties, take one of the ties from one pair, and one of the ties from another and tie those together. take the other ones from the pair and tie those to the next one over that is paired with one, and you will see how it comes out. you can then tie the original pairs back again several inches below that and you will see the shape come to life.

i don't have pictures, i am SO sorry. but if you have questions, ask away, and i will try to clarify as much as possible. enjoy your tutu making!

Now, for those of you who don't have need for a tutu, I have not forgotten you. This idea i had will have pictures to it once I squeeze out some time to work..but I will try to describe it the best I can.
With fall comes colder weather and thus long pants. When you pull out your tough guys' long jeans, don't throw away the favorite jeans because the knees have holes. get some felt, or any other fairly durable scrap of cloth, and cut a bunch of little triangles. Then, stitch them to the edge of the hole, basically, create an adorable little monster mouth where that knee is, lol. It's too cold for my toddlers to show some knee, so I will also be stitching something behind the teeth, maybe something to look like a mouth or just something with a crazy but boyish print. I just can't bear to toss those old navy jeans that fit so good. My boys are lanky making a good fit jean hard to find.

If you have kids of varying ages, did you know the sleeve of a shirt that is too small for a big kid makes great leggings for a little kid? here is alink to sleeve-y pants tutorial: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=82219.msg797041#msg797041

I hope that begins to make up for my absence. Today I will be stuffing old socks with newspaper, and then tying htem around the "neck" to make sock-ghosts..lol.should be interesting....

WINNER!

I would have announced it a few hours ago, but had to take a trip to the Dr. with Isabella...little girl doesn't know she can't walk, lol. She is fine and guess what?

crispyphd you are the winner!! yay! contact me at sewinlove@ymail.com with your address so i can send along your prize!

thanks for reading, keep on coming back for the rest, which i am working on right now;-)

Last chance! 9/11/09

Post a comment on the giveaway post today if you want to be entered, this is your last chance, as I do the drawing tonight! I am so excited to see who wins!

Sorry I didn't get to post much else this week. I have a sick household and no one can sleep because our 22 month old is coughing and crying too much. I will post some very cool stuff tonight and this weekend to make up for it!

Meanwhile, I am trying to make a tutu tutorial but I am going to need pictures for it so today that is my goal, make you all a tutorial on how to make a tutu- AND do designs on it, all without sewing! YAY! I suppose I am ruining myself, as I sell tutus but it seems unfair not to share the info. My shop is always empty these days, but it is at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7720613 and I will let you all know when it's full or maybe I'll get the seller's widget, I don't know.

Give Away time, To Celebrate my Birthday Sept. 7th!

Ok, I finally got things sorted out. And, Since Monday is my birthday Hubby is giving me extra time to craft and sew, I am a happy lady.

FIRRRSSTTT up- A give away! For those of you with adorable little boys up to 9 months, these are meant to protect those sweet sweet knees while looking too cute for school.


How do you get it? Leave a comment of any kind on THIS post by Sept. 14th. I will announce the Winner that evening. Once I get in touch with you, you will have 3 days to get in touch with me or runner up gets it. Sorry to cut it so close, I hate to, but we have so much more coming up!


What else? Well, Fall is here and I find myself up to my chin in fabrics perfect for my little ones for fall. The little ones don't go to school yet but that doesn't mean they don't need to look perfect for playgroup! With all the new babies born over the summer, Isabella shall be competing for cuteness....well, until they get a load of this pettiskirt styled skirt, with brown tulle ruffles and ribbon waistband making it look luxurious. I have enough for 2 more for those who want to buy:

This one is very stretchy and fits around 2T, actually, but Isabella is chunky for 7 months old and I make things she can wear a while. But since I chose to make it so big, I had big brother give it a twirl to show it off:




















And my blog wouldn't be complete without letting you know that tomorrow I will have a get ready for fall recipe "Pumpkin soup" That kids just love, A tutorial on how to make pirate fun with your little ones, and some previews of what's coming in my etsy shop.

Later in the week the tutu tutorial, and a few 30 minute gifts for relatives!

Let's talk about what you want to...

I have some serious stuff going on here at my home, with school starting up and all, plus my camera is broken and hte one I am borrowing stinks, urgh!

So, I want to take a moment and ask you all what you want to read. Please, please respond with a comment, it helps me greatly, ok?

How to make awesome book covers for your kids (even teens like these!!!)

Help with costumes for your kids

Candy bags

How to make a diamond tutu

autumn/harvest decorations


does any of this interest anyone? I am willing ot get to it all but want to do what has the most interest first while I re-organize the next give away, ok?

Sorry about a delay!

I am having trouble with my camera, so posting pics is not happening. I am delaying the leg warmer give away until I fix it, because I don't want to give away anything sight unseen. I promise I am working on it!

This week:
hair flower/bow tutorial
diamond tutu tutorial
boys pj pants "recon" tutorial
some halloween crafts

a talk about costumes :-)

and the leg warmer give away!

Also I will be adding some notes about my back to school sale, I have hair bows, flowers and a few outfits and tutu left, want to clearance them to make room for fall and winter crafts.

WINNER OF THE HALLOWEEN TUTU!

IS LINDSEY! YAY!

Lindsey, please e-mail me at sewinlove@ymail.com so I can get the details to send you yoru prize!

I LOVE give aways!

SOOOOOO Everyone can leave a comment on this post to be entered for a weekend give away of baby leg warmers.

I am trying to get a picture of them up but am having a little difficulty with my camera. I have a new tutorial also, for eggshell votives, however the pics just won't work. I will hammer it out before the weekend is up, and I will draw the winner of the weekend giveaway on Sunday. Tell your friends, tell your enemies! The more visitors I have, the better for everyone, because I will do give aways more often.


Ok? Ok!
Congrats Lindsey!

Last day!

LAST DAY to leave a comment so you can be entered into the drawing fo a cute free Halloween tutu!

Glitter Flower tutorial

You can do this with your kids, even as young as 3 years old. Then use the flowers to decorate a picture frame, make a hair clip, or Glue them with a hot glue gun to a metal pail for a great flower pot or gift basket.

You will need:
silk/fabric flowers: I like to get several different colors then mix them up for a colorful effect
Glitter: I use the kind for scrap booking
Glue: Elmer's is fine, though I used permanent no sew glue for this tutorial because I am out of Elmer's glue
small paint brushes: flat ones work best
some bottle caps and/or sectioned off plates for the glue and glitter

First, take apart your flowers:








Set aside the bottoms, the tiny petals if you have them, and the center parts.










Now, put glue in a bottle cap or sectioned off plate.









Place Glitter the same way, on a sectioned off plate for example, so you can either brush on the glitter or dip, whichever you desire






Now take your first part of your flower, And the idea is to put glue where you want your glitter. You can brush glue on, or dip it in the glue. You can do just the tips of the petals, or randomly (Like my 3 year old did, lol) or do s line up the center of the petals. Whatever you like. You can also chose to do one petal at a time, though I found that if you are just doing the tips, brushing them all and then dipping them into the glitter worked best.













Once your Flowers has the glitter on the way you like it, do the next layer of petals. Do as many as you like, I have made flowers with 6-8 layers of petals and had a beautiful effect, but for this tutorial I did only 2 layers and they came out nicely.

Now, take your center piece If you are going to make it glittery, read on, if you are not, simply put your flower together and let it dry. For Elmer's glue, a couple of hours is fine, but for hte permanent fabric glue, let it sit overnight.

IF you are making your center piece glittery also,
1)paint it with the glue generously,
2)then sprinkle the glitter into it and
3)shake off the rest,

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until happy with your glitter on the piece.........












Now, put your flower together, let it dry, and use it to add sparkly fabulousness to your home, hair, or locker!

Some news:

I am going to do a giveaway on Friday, And I will be giving away a pair of gender nuetral (though brightly colored!) baby leg warmers for up to size 18 months! BUTTTT The catch is in order to be entered into the drawing, you have to have left a comment or be a follower before i begin the drawing, so make sure you click those buttons!

and don't forget to look at the tutu giveaway post, ok? it's a stunning tutu!




OH YEAH I almost forgot to tell you all, because someone asked me....my home is SMOKE FREE and PET FREE.

Another GiveAway

Halloween is coming and it's time to start thinking of what you want to be, and get the kids to settle on one choice so the creation can begin. Unless you are like me, and do it last minute. I am done waiting too long, so I am going to post some simple costume ideas and tutorials, and we will have some fun with autumn decorations and Halloween ones, too. And it wouldn't be my blog without activities to do with your kids, and things to teach your little ones.

So, here is my first giveaway! This tutu is size 2T though you can get away with putting it on as small as 18 months and as big as 3T. It is black tulle with red tulle tied into diamonds with black satin ribbons. It's very rockin'! The longest layer is 18 inches from the waist, with 16 inch layers of black and the red tulle is 14-16 inches. And hey, you could get this awesome punky tutu for F-R-E-E!

There are 2 ways- leave a message with your name, and why you would like to win this tutu, OR Click the button to follow the blog and leave a comment saying you are a follower. If you do not leave an e-mail, you must check back for the announcement so I can contact you for the information on where to send it. I will do a random drawing. one entry per person, please.

DEADLINE is August 28, 2009 at 10p.m. EST. Winner announced the following day.



I wanted to say, future give aways aren't all-girl....Boy stuff coming next time!

GiveAways!

To start out my brand new blog, I want to first tell you to stay tuned. There will be crafts you can do with your kids, advice, anecdotes and stories, stuff you can buy, and give aways!

Let's open with a giveaway, unfortunatly this one is not by me.

That will come very soon though!

All Children’s Furniture, which offers everything from kids furniture to toys, is sponsoring a Razor scooter giveaway on BabyCenter’s MOMformation.

In fact, check out MOMformation for lots of great blog posts, articles, giveaways, and more! There is even recipes. I can get enough of baby center and mostly of MOMformation.