fuzzy fleece headband

You have all seen the cute crocheted or knitted headbands.  Here is my version of something similar if you are like me and still learning to crochet but you are not so great yet.  These are made out of a single layer of fleece and they are very easy.  They could be made even without a sewing a machine.

First measure the head that you are making this for.  For my girls I started with a strip of fleece about 17x3 in.  For an adult, mine were about 20x3 in.  Make sure when you cut the strip that the stretch of the fabric goes around the head.  I then tapered the ends about 4 inches in and then just sew the ends together.  I did use a sewing machine for this but this could easily be hand sewn.  You can then turn it right side out and embellish with a flower, bow, heart, monogram, or whatever you can think of.   Fleece or knit will not fray so I just left the edges unfinished and it turned out great.  I like them because they are light enough to where all day.

1. For the flower I started with a strip about 9x3in.  I then cut 1 inch off to use for the center of the flower.
2. Take the 9x2in strip and fold it into accordion style so that you have 5 layers.
3. Round the top edge with your scissors.
4.  I should look like this when you unfold it.
5.Take a needle and thread and stitch along the bottom and then gather it up into a flower.
6. Connect the two ends to complete the flower.  Use the 1in. strip, tie the end in a knot, and roll it up for the center (use could also use a button).  Stitch it on to the headband.

I made myself a brown and black one. 

And we needed a valentine one.

Some for mom, some for my girls, and a couple for a new little one to be coming soon.

paper beads

I remember making these when I was a little girl. So I thought that it would be great to teach my daughter how to make them. Better yet she loved them so much that we are making them for her American Girl Tea Party coming up this weekend. I think that the girls will fall in love with this fun craft. And they can go home and make many more.

Supplies                                

Paper (any kind)

Glue stick

toothpick

scissors

stretchy elastic

To begin you wan to cut your paper into small triangles as show in the picture. A 1/2in x 7 1/2in triangle. Keep in mind that the wider your triangle the  longer your bead and the longer your triangle the thicker your bead.  So it would be fun to have some bigger and smaller.  After you have cut your paper you begin with the fat end as you begin to roll it around the toothpick glue as you go. That will help your bead stay together. Pull it off of the toothpick and you will see that you have a nice hole to thread your bead on to your elastic.

Happy beading!

scrap paper jewelry

These little  necklace pendants are the perfect paper project to use up those little scraps of your favorite paper.  

Here are the supplies that you will need.  Most of them can be found at any craft store.  We are just starting on ours today.    

For our little girls I like the small accent gems that are more their size.  There are so many fun ideas with this project.  I followed a great step by step tutorial at Heartland Paper.
I also found so many other great ideas and patterns on their site.

Look how cute these little shoes are.  I would love to use them for a baby shower or a wedding shower.  The patterns are on their site on the left side.  The high heels would also be cute for fall in black as witches shoes.  

headband from fabric bits and scraps

I have seen so many great repurposing ideas with a t-shirt that I started holding on to a few before they were on there way out to the DI.  Some might have stains or holes or just don't fit anyone anymore.  Don't throw them away!!  They can turned into something fabulous.  

Here is a fun project for today.  I have been looking for a headband that is comfortable to wear.  I have some of the elastic ones that I can only handle for about 2 hours and then I feel like by brain in shrinking.  I started with some scraps of a t-shirt from the box. 

Cut two pieces about 12 in long and about 1/2 in wide.  The softer and stretchier (if that's a real word) knit will work a little better.  When you stretch them out long they will roll up on themselves.

Cut one more 12 in piece a little wider, about 1 in thick.  I cut it in half so each piece is 6 in.  (one for each end).  Wrap this around the two pieces and stitch across.  This could easily be a no sew project if you want to glue it instead.  

It is ready to wear or you could attach your favorite flower.  

This flower is also made from a scrap of fabric about an 1 1/2 in wide and 45 in long.  Just cut a little slit and then rip a long piece off the edge.  

If one end is a little skinnier than the other that is even better.  Use the skinny end to start.

 Tie a knot in the end and twist up the fabric and then start to wrap it around itself using a hot glue gun to secure it every once and a while.

   If you want a smaller flower use a shorter piece of fabric.  

swap and shop party

A few weeks ago I let you know that I was in the party mood and I had one in the works.  Well I am so excited to show you what I did. And with it being recycle week here at Simply Home and Family what a better time to share my Swap and Shop Party. Times are tough these days and what girl doesn't love going shopping with friends?  The idea of the party was just that. I invited a few friends and had them each bring 5-7 fabulous things that they just don't love any more. They wrote a description or selling point of their item on a tag and then attached it to them. We placed all the items on long tables for everyone to see. I set it up like a boutique. We had some fun things.  A basket with movies and popcorn for a date night, ice cream maker, s-more maker with all the fixings, clothes, jewelry, books, house hold items, toys and much more. I told them to be creative with their items.

After everyone showed up and had a chance to look at all the fun stuff. We visited and ate yummy finger food.

Let the game begin!  All the ladies where given 7 clothes pins to write their name on. This was their frequency to buy the items. I then told them they have 15 min to put their clothes pins on the items that they wanted. After the time was up I held up the item and called out the name of the girl who chose that item so that everyone could see what they got. If there was more than one clothes pin on an item. I put all the clothes pins in a bowl and drew out the winner. I then gave the clothes pins back to the girls who didn't win for them to go place on another item. Everyone got fun stuff and it was all FREE!!

 

We had so much fun and the decorations were a hit as well. I got my inspiration from a roll of wrapping paper (brown and pastel poke a dot). I wanted to keep it as cheep as possible. all of the decorations cost me $20. I shopped at the thrift store and found pink and green plates the I turned up side down for a cake plate look. I used 1/2 pint Mason jars for the glassed. I made my banner, napkin rings, and table runner with the wrapping paper. The Pom poms were from a post we did earlier. I also went through my house and collected any think that was in the color scheme. Everyone had such a good time. I will definitely be doing it again. Thanks ladies for making it so much fun.

polly pocket cozy

For boys week we feature the cute little car cozy and today I found a cute polly pocket cozy from Chris at Pickup Some Creativity.  I was trying to think of something like this for my girls and here it is. I love it!

She helped her kiddos make gifts for each other for christmas and this was one of them.  They made the car cozy as well.  These could be made from scraps  and old jeans you already have.  Very cute idea!

plenty of paperdolls

I love finding a really great toy. One that involves using kids imagination and creativity and one that they will play with for hours. After finding these Minime Paper Dolls paper dolls a couple of months ago, I finally ordered them.  They meet all the above specifications and my cute little ten year old has been busy ever since.

When ordering the doll I was able to customize it to look like her and have her name put on it.   I chose the "print it yourself" option,  received the pdf file the next day, and the fun began.   I love the cute vintage look of of the doll and outfits and my favorites are the fairy tale line and the girls in literature line.

 These dolls would be so cute as a gift and even more fun in a gift basket with one of the books (Little Women, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, etc).  The paper doll party package offered on the website would make for a fabulous little birthday party/ tea party and the outfit of the month would be a happy little surprise at the beginning of each month. 
The website offer great tips and tricks.  We searched out the little "sticky strips" to hold the clothes on and are thinking about laminating the doll and clothes.  And thanks to the print it yourself option when we made a little mistake in creating the first doll (leaving her within toddlers reach) and were able to just reprint her.
If you have little girls, these dolls are definitely worth checking out.

summer skirt

I found this cute skirt over at MADE and I just had to make one for my daughter. It is the perfect skirt for the summer and so easy to make.

I adjusted the pattern by adding a few more inches to each piece to make it bigger. This pattern is easy to make smaller or bigger as needed.  Click here for the complete set of instruction by Dana from MADE. A great skirt for spinning.

girls bloomers or "francie pants"

I found these francie pants at the beginning of the summer and loved the idea and so do our girls.  These have become a favorite item at our house.

They are  a cute little pair of shorts to hide the underpants of your little girl that loves to wear dresses and also loves to climb trees, hang on monkey bars, jump on the trampoline, and roll down big grassy hills. There name came from the saying"I see London I see France".  They have a cute little description of the name here.  These are also great to hide the underwear hanging out of her leotard and to wear under summer nightgowns.

Because of my need to be frugally creative I tried to figure out a way to make these and this is what I came up with.  

The easiest way was to start with a pair of leggings that I already had.  I cut them off to the length that I needed.  I left these a little longer so we could use them as shorts or francie pants.  I then just hemmed the bottoms.  To get the ruffle edge I stretched the fabric as I zigzagged the edge. 

The next idea I had was to copy that same pair of legging for a pattern and cut them out of an old t-shirt (or any knit fabric that you have).  I folded the t-shirt in half and then cut it out.  This gives me two pieces on the fold.  I turned my leggings inside out to examine how they are sewn together.  I made two seams, one that goes in the center front and back and the other is the crotch seam.   I decided to add a little heart on the bum for fun.  

With a little girl starting kindergarten this year this is on our list of things to make for school.

new for you doll clothes

We have a few new contributors here at Simply Home and Family and today we would like to introduce you to one.  Holli has been sharing her ideas with us for about a month and as you can probably already tell, she has a wide variety of amazing talents.  She can decorate, sew, garden, cook, cut and style hair, create fabulous projects with paper and fabric and could easily work as an event and party planner.  One of her many skills involves being able to create really cool stuff out of old, used, or worn out items.  With Holli, recycling, repurposing, and upcycling take on a whole new meaning.  This week as we are sharing ideas for girls, we thought we would share her new etsy shop, HolliCycle. 

She is just getting it started, so there is much more to come, but check out her cute doll clothes.  These little outfits, created from recycled fabric, have been headed out the door in birthday wrappings for a while now but today they are available for all. Thanks for the cute products and ideas, Holli.