Cast Shorts Tutorial

So my little one is in yet again another spica cast! I thought I would make her some cute little shorts to go over them and in the process create this unique tutorial for all my OI mama and POLP friends! Here we go!

Materials needed : pair of shorts, sharp scissors, 1/2" wide Velcro, sewing machine, thread.

Start off with a pair of store bought shorts a good few sizes larger to accommodate the cast. That's right, store bought... you didn't think I was that crafty did you? Besides this is supposed to be easy peasy! I don't have time to follow patterns! If you are wondering, I found these at Target in the little girls section. They are a girls size 4/5 and my daughter is typically a 12 months size. To make sure I had the right size and shape (some shorts taper in in the leg which is not what you want for thick casted legs) I held them up to her casted waist making sure that the seamed sides lined up to her sides all the way down and were baggy enough to accommodate the casts.

Take a pair of very sharp scissors and cut straight from bottom to top along the side next to the seam. Do not cut on the seam, just next to it. My seam is to the left, scissors to the right leaving about a half inch distance from the seam.

Cut through the elastic carefully.

Open your pair of shorts up.

This is the side with the seam. Since the seam is here on this side we don't need to stitch what we cut, it's already done for us.

Take your velcro and size it up. You want it to be long enough to run the length of the side of the pair of shorts but not too long that it sticks out at either end.

I lined mine up just about a half inch from the top and cut it at about a half inch from the bottom.

My velcro overlaps the elastic and runs down to the bottom seam on the shorts. Since this is the butt side of the shorts (the seam closest to the behind, see the tag) I will use the rough side of the velcro here.

Do not sew your velcro on the side shown above (inside of shorts) rather sew it on the outside of the shorts (the side that shows) close to the edge of where you cut. Sew the velcro on by stitching all around the four edges of the velcro (like a box).

Trim your threads. Take a look at the other edge of your shorts where you cut. There is no seam on that side. We need to make one so that the fabric doesn't unravel. Fold the side of the shorts in, just enough so that you can stitch a seam down the side.

Trim your threads. Now take your softer counterpart of velcro and match up the size needed with the velcro that you have already sewn on. Make sure when you go to sew on the soft sided velcro that the placement is correct and that it lines up with the rough sided velcro.

Sew on the soft sided velcro on the inside of the pair of shorts next to the seam that you sewn.

Trim your threads. Now you have two sewn on velcro strips along the edges that you cut open. Now you can close up your shorts!

Here's a pic to show you what I'm working with here in cast land. Yep, that cast goes up her whole leg wraps around her waist and goes down the back of the other leg. Believe me stretching an elastic waistband only goes so far... in this case it's not enough! Some modifications were absolutely needed! Diaper changing is a whole other story as is her diagnosis.

Here are the first pair I made.

Ok, so here's how you get them on easy peasy! Put the one casted leg through and pull up making sure that the back of the shorts don't get scrunched up behind the cast.

Velcro her up!

Feed her some snacks and juice for being such a champ!

Happy crafting!!!

Bitty Gals Tutorial

Here it is my very first tutorial!

Bitty Gals is what my girls decided to name them. Basically they are peg people! I thought this would be a fun thing to create for stocking stuffers or as one of the little gifts for our advent calendar. I had a load of fun painting them with fun colors and designs and it was super easy!

1. Gather your supplies : Acrylic paints in assorted colors, glossy finish or varnish, paint brushes, fine line paint markers, small artists paint tray or paper plate for pouring and mixing paint, cup of water, paper towels, protective surface such as grocery brown paper bag, and wooden peg people ( mine are actually called "girl game pieces")

2. Paint your dolls head in any flesh color all around and slightly down her front for a v-neck or round neck dress and let dry.

3. Paint your dolls dress making sure to give her a neck by painting a v-neck or round neck top and let dry.

4. Embellish the dress with complimenting colors and designs and let dry.

5. Paint on hair style and let dry.

6. Using fine tip paint markers draw on a face and let dry.

Before you know it you will have a whole entourage of pretty Bitty Gals lined up!

7. Coat using a paint brush all of your Bitty Gals with a high gloss finish or varnish to give them a finished look, let dry and you're done!

I can't wait to see my girls dancing their little Bitty Gals around!

Enjoy and Happy Crafting!

Black Apple Doll

My first attempt at the Black Apple Doll! Isn't she cute?! My daughter just loves her too! I made her in under an hour last night with some left over fabric scraps and surprised my little girl in the morning with her! What a great way to use up some bits of scrap material! Want to try one? Go to Martha Stewart's website for an easy free tutorial and free pattern of Emily Martin's Black Apple Doll. Emily also has a fun blog to check out here!
Happy crafting all!

Scrappin' My Childhood

Ok, it's been a long time since I have posted and I am sorry! I haven't had much crafting time being the busy mama of three crazy girls, but I am going to keep trying to squeeze it in there when I can!

I have been officially scrapbooking for 7 years now! I wish I had 7 years worth of scrapbooking done, but I am no where near that! I love BUYING all the fabulous papers and embellishments my local scrapbook store provides at decent prices, but once home with my latest and greatest stash I have a hard time finding the energy and inspiration to create.

Up until this week my scrappin' has been all about my three gals. I was feeling quite nostalgic though and decided to make it work for me. I headed over to the scrap store with some old pictures of me when I was a kid and came home with the perfect vintagey papers to get my creativity flowing! Here are the results:

Summer '82

Shipbottom, NJ 1981

Sorry about the poor picture quality. I took photo's of the layouts and then cropped them on Photoshop. I wish I had a large 12x12 scanner! It's on the wish list as well as a Wishblade!!! If anyone has any better ideas of how to post 12x12 scrapbook pages on a blog let me know in the comments section!

It's Finally Finished!!!

My King size quilt that is! It's finally complete! I started this huge project years ago with my grandmother when my oldest daughter (now almost 8 years old) was at the age where she thought it was perfectly fine to draw on this quilt with markers *gasp* while I wasn't looking! At first this quilt was hand quilted stitch by stitch..... I had made it half way through when I had a not so bright idea and decided to sew it with my machine. Well, it was too thick to fit through the machine but I tried anyways and the quilt ended up all bunched up in a mish mosh of stitches! It was a wreck! Marker all over the backing and crumpled, wrinkled and stitched up top!

We pulled it all apart again together, my grandmother and I and we, ummmm.... I mean SHE fixed it ALL for me! She bought a gigantic quilting table and machine, had it set up in her sun room (I helped a little setting it up), bought new backing for the quilt and then she sewed, sewed and sewed some more until it was all quilted and brought back to life again! Her craftsmanship is AMAZING! I just finished putting on the binding around the border and I plan on stitching on a "quilted by" label with our names. It is finally finished, all the love sweat and struggle you could ever want poured into my very first quilt, and only quilt so far... That was crazy hard stuff! I don't know if I have the strength or time to attempt that ever again! Thank you Mommom!

That would be my 20 month old daughter enjoying the comforts of handmade!


I thought it would be great to have a few pictures of it on my bed, but hubby is sleeping in it right now! He's a third shift worker. So I decided to hang it off the edge of my daughter's crib and guess what? I think it blends pretty well with her unique decor! Hmmm... a certain somebody is going to be getting her big girl Montessori bed soon! I would definitely have to fold it in at least half, maybe into quarters for it to be Sonya sized!

Origami Flower Pots

For a fun way to recycle old newspapers (trimmed to size) try this out! You can use them to plant bulbs or seeds in and give them as gifts or use them yourself! This is another fun idea from my 8 year old daughter's "green theme" birthday party. We are having all the kids plant crocus bulbs inside them and then they will be able to take their plants home with them to place in their own gardens! The paper will biodegrade so you can actually just plant the whole pot into the ground! They are so much better for the environment than those plastic pots that just get tossed into the trash! For mine I used scrapbook paper that was outdated, I knew I wouldn't be using them on a layout so this was a great way to use up those papers cluttering my space. Try it with old newspapers, junk mail, old notes to self, used coffee filters or pages from a paperback book that is ready to retire. How about drawings from your kids, you know, the ones that you toss, be honest we can't keep them all! Plus I bet your toddler or younger child would love to see that their pretty drawing turned into some pretty flowers! Have fun with it! Enjoy!