Oh Deer

What was my favorite part of the 4th of July this year? Super sale at Joann Fabrics!! Well, I probably had more fun being with Daddy Man and the kids for three days in a row, but the sale was amazing!! Their patterns were on sale for 99 cents! We're talking about $12-$16 patterns here! One of the patterns I found was for three different vintage-style stuffed animals, in two sizes. I started with the Momma and Baby Lamb for Baby Sister. For the material I used some flannel receiving blankets that my Mom bought for me and told me to make whatever for her room. I wanted her animals to be soft and cuddly, so the blankets worked perfectly! The only downside- the sheep turned out to look like deer. Hmm....The long legs and neck, and skinny body make them look like deer, but hey, they are still totally cute!
I embroidered eyelashes, mouths and hooves, and used vintage buttons for the eyes. I made sure to cut out the Mama's body so I could use the cute butterfly that was on the blanket. Too cute! Muffin is excited about Sister's sheep, and is playing with them as I write, but asked me to please make her the pony ones. (the pattern has a lamb, giraffe, and a horse). I'll get right on that, Muffin!

Another Gilded Treasure

Today I would like to share with you a successful project, and a failed one.

First, the successful project:

Last December I picked up three of these crown ornaments thinking I would paint them and make something for my mom and Sister (sorry girls, I never got around to it!). Once I decided to do a castle/princess theme for Muffin and Baby's room, I thought they would be perfect in pink! I started out with the same color as the poodles, but it just wasn't popping, so I went a few shades darker.

From gilded......

To perfectly pink!
I even followed through on the project, and hot glued them to her cubby shelf. I'm hoping the glue will hold. If not, I will call in Daddy Man and his power tools.
Close up:
I took the opportunity to give you a little sneak peak of Muffin's work in progress room. I think I'm pretty much done, it's just that its hard to get photos of the whole room at one time (this would mean the whole room would have to be clean. ;) Asking too much, right?).
I found this cutest-of-all chairs at Ross, and got 25% off for a scuff on the leg! So girly and cute!
On to the failed project:

My third attempt at upcycling a men's shirt into a boy's shirt did not go so well. This time I used this tutorial for making a onesie, and modified it for a shirt. It was looking good until I sewed the ribbing on backward on the front half of the shirt. Arg!! At first glance it looks OK....
but closer inspection reveals a slew of errors. I'm new to sewing knit fabrics, so the neckline is all warbly (yup, made that up). As I said, the front neckline that you see is supposed to be on the inside of the shirt...the other side looks better, but since I used the existing hem of the old shirt, I couldn't turn it around. And, as you can see right by Muffin's fingers, I didn't catch the edge of the ribbing in the sleeve.
Well, I will try again. Hopefully I can get it right before this weekend's birthday party for Baby Keller! As for the fate of this shirt? It's not so bad to be doomed to the dumpster, so I think Mr. Baby will use it for a sleep shirt (just like the first two I tried. UGH!)