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Category: kids

The Wednesday High-Low Dress for Girls

posted in diy, kids, sewing, tutorial by Hanna on
I wouldn’t consider myself anywhere close to as good a sewer as Sara, but every now and again I like to try my hand at it. It’s usually something that involves a lot of straight lines or is something for one of my girls. I find kids clothes much easier to make since you don’t have worry about perfect fit and the curves that we adult, women have.
It has been awhile since I’ve sewed anything for my daughter, but I’ve been itching to make her a casual, comfy dress with some fun design element to it and to use up all the material I keep buying but never use! Is anyone else guilty of this? And so the Wednesday High-Low dress was created!
For those of you who don’t have a serger or haven’t sewed much this is the perfect dress to make for your wee one. Plus I’m thinking it would even translate well into a dress for yourself. Dare I give that a try?

My daughter was SO excited to get to wear this. While I was sewing it she kept asking to try on her “princess” dress. Everything is princess with this girl!
Now let’s get to the nitty gritty…oh wait, there’ll be none of that as it’s pretty straight forward.
Supply list:
– knit fabric (I used around 1 yard of fabric for my dress to fit a 3 year old.)
– matching thread
– measuring tape/rule
– fabric scissors
– sewing machine
– a dress or shirt that fits your child
– cutting mat (optional)
Fold your knit fabric in half, right sides together. This way anything you cut out you’ll be getting double. Now take a dress or shirt that fits your child and use that to make your measurements for cutting the 2 different sized rectangles shown below.
Rectangle 1 will be the top piece of the dress. To figure out how wide I needed rectangle 1 I took a short sleeved dress that fits my daughter and measured from the end of one sleeve to the other.
Once you have your two sized rectangles cut out at the right measurements you’re ready for the next steps.
Before you gather the bottom rectangle fold it with the side seams together in the middle and cut the high-low part of the dress as shown below.
Now gather the top of rectangle 2 to match the width of rectangle 1 using the gathered stitch you sewed earlier. Pin and sew rectangle 1 to rectangle 2 and finally hem the sleeves, neckline and bottom of the dress by folding under once and sewing with a stretch stitch.
Wallah! You’re finished and now you’re little princess has a cute, new dress to wear.

Linked To:
http://persialou.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-makers-no-9.html

We Did It! Wednesday


http://theblissfulbee.com/work-it-wednesday-no-39/
http://thewinthropchronicles.blogspot.com/2014/03/share-it-link-party-106.html
http://staceyembracingchange.com/2014/03/20/creative-inspirations-linky-party-76/
http://www.lambertslately.com/2014/03/create-it-thursday-46-plus-features.html#more
http://sparklesandastove.com/things-pretty-linky-party-52-features/

Kid Approved Valentines Party

posted in crafts, family, holidays, kids, lifestyle by Hanna on

It has been a busy week getting caught up with everything after our trip to Florida! I was pretty much behind on everything; blogging included! So today with it being Valentine’s I wanted share with you a little bit of my week that included this Valentine’s party I did for preschool.

Since moving into our new house I joined an at-home preschool group that some of the mother’s in the neighborhood had already started. We take turns doing preschool at our homes 2 days a week. So far it’s been really great for my toddler for social interaction with some bonus learning and crafts. It’s been great for me in getting to know some of the other mothers around me and finding some friends for Mia.

This week was my week and it being the week of Valentines I wanted to do something to celebrate. We spent the first day doing a craft that would serve as decoration for the party later in the week and then as a Valentine to give to their parents.

I cut up a bunch of scrap paper and had the kids glue them to inside of the heart. They love stick glue so they had a good time with it. This craft was perfect for a quick and easy decoration for the party!

Yesterday was our “party” day. We started by decorating bags with foam heart for all their Valentine’s to go in. Felt stickers was something we hadn’t done before and it was another hit with keeping the kiddos entertained.
Next we played a game of “Pin the Heart”. My daughter, Mia was my model for the girl we “pinned” the heart on and my helper in coloring it.
Our final activity was decorating heart cookies and eating them. Yum!

Now that the kids were all hyped up on sugar and before everyone’s mom came to pick them up I passed out their bags they decorated earlier and we passed around all the cute Valentines everyone brought.
Once the kids were gone I spent a good half-hour on clean up while Mia ate more candy and then we had a lazy afternoon. What a great day!
Hope everyone has a lovely Valentines day!
-HANNA

How to Save BIG on Your Children’s Clothes

posted in baby, kids, money saving tips, shop by Sara on

There is always talk about how fast kids grow up. They go from a small newborn baby to an energetic toddler in a mere blink of an eye! The hardest part about them growing up so fast is keeping clothes in their closet that actually fit them. It’s like I buy my daughter a new outfit and after a few wears it is already too small! Not only is my daughter growing out of her clothes faster than I can replenish them, but it also doesn’t take long before there is a giant stain on them either. Let’s face it—kids are tough on clothes! 

While clothing is a necessity of life, it is often hard to bring myself to spend a lot of money on baby clothes when I know in a month or two they will either be too small or too stained. After expressing my frustrations to a friend who has a 2 year old and a baby on the way, she gave me some great tips on how to buy new, name brand kids clothing for little-to-nothing. I’m talking amazing saving here! This woman is the queen of finding a great deal! Just last week she scored an adorable Baby Gab dress, regularly on clearance for $25, for less than $2! The best part of all… she agreed to share her great money saving tips with you too!

  • Think ahead and buy bigger sizes to put away for later—this will save you money in the long run.
  • Shop end of season clearance. Even though it’s end of season for stores, your child can usually wear the clothes for a couple more months and then next year too. For example, right now stores are discounting winter clothes to make room for spring/summer inventory, but it’s still winter clothing weather.
  • Go through your child’s wardrobe and decided what clothes your child needs(ex. 2 pairs of pants, a light-weight jacket, etc). This will help eliminate the compulsive desire to buy just because there is a good deal. 
  • Know the brand of clothes and styles that best fit your child. Every store’s sizes fit differently. For example, H&M pants run really big on my daughter, while Old Navy pants run a bit small. 
  • Look for things that make clothing wearable for longer—like an adjustable waist.
  • Know the stores you shop and when they have sales or additional off clearance items. For example: Dillard’s is an additional off all clearance the last week of every month.
  • Double-up coupons with sales or clearance. While I love extra savings, make sure you read the fine print as there may be some stores that will not allow you to use coupons on sale or clearance items.
  • Always buy the next size up from what your child is currently wearing. 
  • Clearance sale items are usually at the back of the store.
  • Look online for sales and additional discounts—usually stores will price match online prices.
  • Visit discount stores such as Ross, TJ Max, and Marshall’s. They even have clearance and marked-down items.


    I’d like to publicly thank my friend, Rachelle, for the wonderful tips and I hope you found them to be as helpful as I did. We love finding new ways to save money, so if you have any additional tips or know of any good sales, please feel free to share them with all of us in the comment section below! 

    Happy saving!

    Linked To:
    http://sodapopave.com/soda-pop-ave/2014/2/4/what-we-love-wednesdays-25
    http://myfashionforwardblog.com/things-pretty-46/
    http://www.delineateyourdwelling.com/2014/02/link-it-or-lump-it-party-no-24.html
    http://thewinthropchronicles.blogspot.com/2014/02/share-it-link-party-100.html
    http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2014/02/whatever-goes-wednesday-208.html
    http://learningcreatingliving.blogspot.com/2014/02/linkn-blogs-link-party-11.html
    http://www.roubinek.net/something-fabulous-wednesday-3/
    http://www.thepinjunkie.com/2014/02/friday-link-party-53.html

    Creating a Learning Environment at Home for your Kids

    posted in inspiration, kids, motherhood, parenting by Hanna on

    Since having my girls and getting the privilege of watching them grow I’ve started realizing how eager they are to learn and experience everything they can in life. It’s so inspiring to me how free-spirited and willing kids are to jump in and learn and try something new. I also noticed how children learn better in the safe environment of their home from people they love and trust. Seeing these things have made me want to create more opportunities for my girls to learn and experience new things at home in these younger years, especially for my 2 ½ year old daughter, Mia.

    Learning through participating in the day-to-day things:

    One simple solution I found is slowing down and taking the time to involve her more in the day-to-day things; like chores around the house, getting groceries at the store, or cooking something. I’ve never seen anyone more excited to learn how to set a table than Mia was the other night when I would hand her each dish and she would have to figure out where it should go.

    I also often take the opportunity to let her help me with the cooking and measuring out ingredients. In fact one of our favorite things to make together are those healthy, chocolate chunk banana muffins from last week’s post.

    All this things take extra time and effort, which is why I often have to remind myself that I’m doing it to help my girls, especially Mia. Not to mention, Mia simple loves the opportunities to do something new!

    Learning through music:
    Another great way I found to create learning opportunities is switching out my music for “kid-friendly” music or what I like to call the toddler station on Pandora. We also have the CD If You’re Happy & You Know It by Fisher Price in our car that we listen to when the girls are along the ride. Mia loves all the songs on it and after several months of listening to it I’ve noticed a lot of the words from the songs have become a part of Mia’s regular vocabulary. Needless to say, music has a huge presence in our home and it has been a big factor in helping Mia learn. Plus there is nothing cuter than hearing your kids sing!

    Creative learning:

    Finally, I’ve put my so-called “craftiness” to use to encourage Mia’s creative side but also use it as an opportunity to have Mia experience creating with different kinds of things. Sometimes I use different occasions and holidays to do projects. For example, last year for Valentines I had Mia stamp hearts on card stock and we made cards to send out to the Grandparents; or for Halloween Mia glued cotton balls on some paper ghosts I cut out. On a regular week I’ve done play dough, let her cut paper with scissors, paint, helped her build a snowman or whatever random thing I can come up with.

    Even with my perfectionist side, I’ve learned nothing has to be super grand and planned out for Mia to learn something new and love doing it at the same time. She just wants the experience and the quality time spent with her mama!

    Since the move and the holidays I haven’t been as good about some of these things as I should be. Mia is crazier than ever, getting into everything she can and is just down right bored! This post is a reminder to myself (and hopefully an inspiration to some of you others mom out there) to slow down, take some time away from all the things that need to be done and spend some time with the kiddos to create opportunities to help them to learn and experience new things.

    -HANNA

    Linked To:
    http://www.trueaimeducation.com/2014/01/6-favorites-and-moms-library-80.html
    http://sodapopave.com/soda-pop-ave/2014/1/27/what-we-love-wednesdays-24
    http://www.familyhomeandlife.com/2014/01/wow-us-wednesday-link-party_28.html
    http://www.keepingitsimplecrafts.com/2014/01/motivate-me-monday-210-block-party.html
    http://www.carolynshomework.com/2014/01/the-inspiration-board-creative-party-139.html

    Milestones and Updates

    posted in family, kids, lifestyle, motherhood by Sara on

    Maybe you haven’t noticed but I’m pretty good at being fashionably late and here is yet more proof…Halloween pictures almost a week after the fact! But who can resist posting cute pictures of their kid? Not me! Plus, this Halloween was a big milestone for Addie…her first pigtails! It is about time!

    As a quick update about things to come, I’ve started some fabulous sewing projects over the weekend and can’t wait to share them with you! Also there is a great new addition coming to my shop this month with some even greater holiday discounts so keep your eyes open for that!

    I hope you’re all having a great week!

    30 Minute Baby Leggings

    posted in diy, kids, sewing, tutorial by Sara on
    I feel like Addie is always growing out of her clothes faster than I can keep up! Now that the seasons are changing and the weather is getting colder she is in desperate need of something other than short sleeves and pants. I’ve been on the verge of buying her a bunch of new pants several times, then I finally realized: why buy her pants when I can make them for free with almost no effort at all? I’ve seen many leggings tutorials out there and trust me, they are as easy as they say. So, here it is:
    First find a pair of leggings that you can use as a pattern. Fold them in half and place them against the fold of your fabric which should also be folded in half (or in this picture I have my fabric folded in fourths so I can cut out the two pieces at the same time). Make sure that the stretch of the fabric is running horizontally and that you leave about 1 inch at the bottom and 1 inch at the top for a nice hem. Then cut around the shape of the leggings leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance. You should end up with two of these pieces.

    Next, sew both leg seams with the right side of the fabric together. I used a serger to do this but a simple stretch stitch on a sewing machine will work great too.

    Now turn one of the pant legs inside out as shown above.

    Put the right-side-out pant leg inside of the other and match up the seams. The right sides of the fabric should again be facing each other.

    Sew along the seam. Once you have done this you should be able to take the leg out of the other so that you end up with what is shown above.

    Now it is time to add the elastic waistband. To do this measure around your child’s waist then cut your elastic 3-4 inches smaller since the elastic will stretch when it gets sewn on. Once you have your electric cut, create the band by zig-zagging the ends together. I used 3/4 inch wide elastic.

    Place the band around the waist of your leggings then fold over the top of the pants to cover the elastic.

    Flip the leggings right side out and sew around the edge of the elastic using a twin needle. Using a twin needle will give you the stretch you need around the waist and hem. Slightly stretch the elastic as you sew and be sure you are catching the edge of it. Hem the bottom of the leggings while also using a twin needle. If you don’t have a twin needle a zig zag stitch or any stretch stitch will work ad well.