Toddler Size Bucket Hat From Swim Trunks

Not too long ago my brother gave me a pair of his old swim trunks.  He knows that I love to repurpose fabric and thought that it might make for an interesting project.  I'll be honest, it took me quite a while to decide what to make from them.  Originally I had thought that I'd make a drawstring wet sack for wet swim suits, but I wasn't quite sure.  After our weekend campout I knew that I needed to make a bucket hat for my little boy.  The sun can be so harsh so this seemed like the perfect project.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd never made a hat before.  I searched online and found this great free pattern from Sew Much Ado.  Her toddler hats are adorable, and the pattern was super simple to follow.  The hat that she has designed is reversible and can be worn with the brim turned up or down, making it a very versatile hat.  She used contrasting fabrics, but I chose to stick with my repurposed swim trunk material on the inside and outside.  The fact that used swim trunk material will be great when Clark goes swimming in kiddie pool in the backyard, or if we head to the beach.

I really love the way that the hat turned out.  My son has a rather large noggin, but this hat fits perfectly.  It didn't take me long to make either.  I got it all sewed up during Sesame Street (you may all feel free to now cast judgment on my parenting skills).

The swim trunks had a pocket on the back which I added to the hat, it makes a fun little detail.  If you are looking for a  fun and simple pattern, or a great way to reuse some old swim trunks, this  is a great project.  (The hat really lies better than it looks in most of the pictures, my model wasn't very willing to model). I have a feeling that Clark will soon own several bucket hats, this pattern is going to be addictive.  Thanks Abby for being so generous and sharing your pattern with us.

Dress Up Your Reusable Shopping Bags

I love the idea of using reusable shopping bags.  It just seems like a good thing to do.  One issue that I do have is that I am a rather frugal person, and I don't like to have to pay for my bags.  Luckily it seems that there are always little specials going on where you can get your bags for free.  Just last Thursday I picked up two free reusable bags at Fred Meyer.  I am very grateful that they are willing to help get me started, but when I go shopping, I use a lot more than just two bags.  I don't really want to bring in my collection of free or discounted bags (which would include about 5 different types of bags, all with the stores name and logo plastered all over it.)  Does anyone else feel bad about bringing a Wal-Mart bag into Albertson's?  I just feel like I'm not being loyal.  Anyway, to solve this  dilemma I decided to mask the logo printed on the front of my reusable bags and dress them up a bit at the same time.  Now I can enjoy some colorful reusable bags no matter where I shop.

This was such a quick and easy project.  I simply cut out two rectangles of fabric per bag. The bags that I used have straps that are attached on the outer layer which leaves a nice area for attaching a panel of fabric.  The size of the area I was covering was 7"x13".  I cut my fabric to 8"x14" and turned in all of the edges 1/2".  I pressed the fabric and pinned it into position on my reusable bag.  The only thing left to do was sew...so that's what I did.  You just need to take care not to stitch through any of the other layers of fabric as you feed the bulk of the back through your machine.  You could easily dress your bags up even more by adding ribbon, trim, flowers, or an applique.  I thought that I'd leave mine as simple as possible so that my husband might still be willing to carry them when he runs to the store.

I'm pretty pleased with my dressed up reusable bags.  Let me know what ideas you have for dressing up your bags.

Five Tasty Ways To Stay Cool This Summer

It finally feels like summer around here.  We are making every attempt to keep ourselves cool during the day.  I thought that today I'd share five of my favorite summer drinks, all of which happen to be family friendly.

1-Orange Julius

This one has been a favorite since I was a little girl. It is sweet, creamy, and full of vitamin C.  I love to make my julius extra slushy by adding extra ice.  If I ever have extra I'll throw it into a dish and freeze it, I love eating it as a frozen treat.

• 1/2 can frozen Orange Juice concentrate
• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
• 1 Cup milk
• 1 Cup water
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 12-18 ice cubes

Add ingredients to blender. Blend ingredients together on high speed until all of the ice cubes are crushed.  (Serves 4-6)

2-Agua de Jamaica (ha-mike-ah)


My husband really loves this drink.  For those of you who have never tried it, or who are unfamiliar with the drink, it is a delicious herbal tea made from the hibiscus flower.  I can't really describe the flavor, but it is intense, sweet, and refreshing. It is a beautiful deep red color. I make it for my husband every Father's Day along with a favorite Mexican dish.

• 4 cups water
• 1 cup dried hibiscus flowers (1.5 oz) (you can find these in the mexican food section of most stores)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups ice

Bring water to boil and add flowers.  Simmer 5 minutes.  Pour infusion over sieve.  Discard flowers.  Add sugar and ice.  Serves 6.

I often find that the intensity flavor varies by flower.  You may want to add more water if the drink is a bit too intense.

3-Banana Milk

This is a drink that I remember my mom making for us before bed.  It is a simple flavored milk, that I am happy to give my son.  I typically serve this in the morning or before bed, but you can enjoy it anytime.  This is also a great way to use bananas that are a bit past their prime (we are pretty picky banana eaters in our house, once they are speckled brown we don't usually eat them whole).  You can warm your milk during the cooler months for a delicious warm drink.

1 whole banana
2 Cups of milk
a dash of cinammon
1 tsp sugar *optional

Blend ingredients together in blender and enjoy.  Serves 2

4- Aguas Frescas (Mexican fresh fruit beverage)


This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh fruit in the summer.  I only became familiar with aguas frescas a few years ago, but I love, love, love them.  You can use the fruit of your choice when making this drink, but here are some that work really well (pineapple, watermelon, mango, cantaloupe, honeydew).  I only recently tried honeydew (not my favorite melon), and it was so tasty.  My son drank it right up.  Aguas frescas are quite simple to make.  Chop up your fruit into small pieces, add a bit of water, a tsp or sugar if needed, and blend.  I'm going to link to a Food Network recipe if you want the specifics.  When I lived in Texas I'd enjoy a fresh cantaloupe drink in the mornings.  Sometimes the heat is so intense that it kills your appetite.  This is a great way to get something into your stomach and stay cool.

5-Limeade


I love fresh limeade.  In my opinion limeade is far superior to lemonade.  It really helped to settle my stomach when I was having morning sickness with my son.  I love to gather several limes and press them by hand.  I think that summer time should be about slowing down and enjoying the day.  Squeezing limes by hand (while more work) is so much more enjoyable than mixing up a can of concentrated juice. If you've never made it by hand give it a try.  All you need is: Lime press, fresh limes, water, sugar to taste, and ice.

This is a recipe that you make to taste.  Squeeze the juice of 3 limes (Not all limes produce the same amount of juice so taste test along the way).  Add water (about 1/2 pitcher...how's that for vague) taste to see if you have the lime flavor you desire.  Add sugar to taste (1/3 cup or so).  Pour over ice.  Enjoy.

Here's a recipe if my instructions are a bit to vague for you.


I hope that your all able to stay cool this summer, and that you slow down and enjoy your favorite drinks with your family.  These are some of my favorite options.  I'd love to hear about your favorites as well.

Cardboard Creature Update

For those of you who are interested, I just posted templates for the cardboard creatures.  You can find the links at the bottom of the original Cardboard Creature post.  Enjoy.  Let me know how you like making them.

I've Been Spotted On Kojo Designs

This week my wipeable changing pad was featured on Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs.  I have been frequenting their blog and I really love it.  You should check out all of their other Friday Fun Finds as well.




Today I have a lot going on, but I'll be back with a template for the cardboard creatures from yesterday.

Meet Our New Cardboard Friends

A couple of days ago I was staring at a couple of cardboard boxes that I needed to clear out of my house, and I had what I thought to be a great idea. It was probably inspired by the great book index cards that I featured on Monday, but either way, I am super pleased with our fun little project.

I decided to involve my 20 month old in the material preparation process. We broke down our cardboard box, ripped the sides apart, and began painting. Clark really loves to paint. I think that it is a great way to expose him to colors. We painted both sides of our pieces of cardboard. I painted the tops shades of the primary and secondary colors (one greens, one purples, one reds, ect.) The back of those pieces of cardboard I painted a different color. You could combine any two colors that you wanted, but this is how I paired my top and bottom colors: yellow/green, red/orange, blue/purple. Clark really enjoyed painting and getting dirty. I really enjoy it when I can involve him in my arts and crafts. It seems like most of the time I am asking him not to touch this, or do that, so when I can ask him to do specific tasks and participate I really like it.

After the pieces were painted and dried I sketched out some basic shapes for animal body parts and cut them out. Next I cut small slits in my shapes to allow the pieces to slide onto one another. If you decide to try this take care not to make your slits too large or they won't stay securely in place.

I ended up making an elephant, a lion, and a giraffe (can you guess which is my favorite?). I am really thinking that the mama elephant needs a little baby by her side. These little cardboard figures aren't very refined, but they were a lot of fun to make. I enjoyed putting some texture in the Lion's mane. If anyone is interested in making these just let me know. I would be more than happy to draw up some quick little templates for you. We have some painted cardboard remaining; I might have to come up with a few more little friends.

This is a craft quickie, and a great way to reuse, repurpose, upcycle (whatever you want to call it) your old cardboard boxes.

Comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome.

UPDATE: Get your templates here: Lion, Elephant, or Giraffe.

Freezer Paper Bleached 2 Shirts: Part 1, Live and Learn

So recently I have been really inspired by all of the freezer paper stenciling that has been going on in blog land.  I have seen great results with both paint (yet to try) and bleach.  I decided that bleach would be a great and inexpensive way to start.  I found some different instructions online and gave it a go.  Here is what I did, I'll share all of my little learning moments along the way.

What you'll need: T-shirt (I used an old top that I use for yard work or pajamas-nothing precious), a spray bottle with a fine mist (perfume or maybe an old hairspray bottle), freezer paper, a design to transfer, and some vinegar.

Now first mistake that I made was in using a cleaning spray bottle instead of a perfume bottle.  It didn't have a fine mist resulting in large drops of bleach and it became hard to really control the area that I was bleaching.

Step 1: Find an image that you want to transfer or draw one out yourself.  I found this great image on craftmanspace.com. (I am going back there for more great patterns...there is a really great art nouveau pattern I am loving).  I liked the simple image that wouldn't take me forever to cut out.  Remember that you are working with positive and negative shapes here.  You could go all out with your design, but I am so glad that I did something simple on this project (since it was a bit of a flop).

Step 2: Transfer your image to the paper side of your freezer paper, and cut out your shapes that you want bleached using an x-acto knife.

Step 3: Adhere a piece of freezer paper to the inside of  your t-shirt (behind your image transfer area) using your iron (this will prevent the bleach from seeping into the other side of your T, and back up into your image area from behind).  I don't have an exact time frame for you on the ironing, just long enough that the freezer paper  is stuck on there. Now adhere your freezer paper stencil to the front of your t-shirt using your iron.

Second mistake: I didn't attach a piece of freezer paper to the inside of the T, which meant that I had the same bleach spot on the back as on the front, and the bleach did sop up through the fabric and into the image area.

Step 4:  Mix your bleach bottle.  Like I said use a fine mist bleach bottle.  I have read different ratios for mixing the bleach, but I used 60% water, 40% bleach and it worked fine.

Step 5: Prep your vinegar bath and open your windows.  Before you go outside and start spraying away partially fill your kitchen sink with water.  I added about a cup and a half of white vinegar (there is nothing special about this amount, I just wanted to be safe).  You create a vinegar bath because it is going to set your bleach.

Step 6: Take your project outside and bleach your T.  This is kind of obvious, but spray only the areas that you want to be bleached.  If there is a border around your image you will probably want to spray around the perimeter so that the border is apparent (unless of course you want a few lost and found edges...those are always fun).

Bleaching action is pretty immediate (we all already knew this from past experiences right?).  I waited about 30 seconds and then took my sprayed project back inside to the vinegar bath.

Step 7:  Soak your T in the vinegar bath (stencil and all).  I soaked it for about 3 minutes and then poured a tiny bit of pure vinegar onto the shirt to make sure.  Rinse your t-shirt in water.

Step 8: Remove your stencil.  This should peel right off.

Step 9: Hang your shirt out to dry.  I did this merely because it was so stinky and I didn't want it inside the house.  You could also throw it in a separate load of wash at this stage, but I let mine do some airdrying first.

I wasn't 100% pleased with the way that my T-shirt turned out so I made a few more alterations-see them here.

Step 10: Wash and Wear.

Although this project didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, I will be trying it again.  I think that there are so many possibilities.  Give it a try.  It is simple and inexpensive.

Freezer Paper Bleached T- Shirts: Part 2, Project Saved

I was slightly disappointed with the results from my first attempt at bleaching my t-shirt.  The thing that was really pleasing to me was the shade of pink that my blue t-shirt turned when it was bleached (a lovely thistle color).  I also liked the image transfer...but I was a bit disappointed with how subtle it was.  I made some rookie mistakes with this project. 1-I didn't properly adhere a piece of freezer paper to the inside of the shirt...this allowed the bleach to bleed through the  fabric onto the back, and back up into the image area from behind.  2-I used a cleaning spray bottle that didn't have a fine mist.  A perfume spray bottle or old hairspray bottle probably would have worked better. The cleaning bottle was hard to control, I couldn't bleach small areas as well as I'd liked to have been able to. Oh well, live and learn.

 So my attempt at transferring my image didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.  I did like the color as I  and the pattern of the transfer, so I decided that the piece could still be salvaged.  I picked up my bleach bottle again, and began spraying the majority of the fabric, being careful not to interfere with the pattern previously transferred. I didn't like the area around the transfer, it wasn't as subtle of a transition from bleached to unbleached fabric (it kind of looked like a bucket of bleach was splashed on my shirt).  So my second attempt with the bleach bottle went much better.  I was able to alter the color of the majority of the fabric, just leaving happy little blue spots that peek-a-booed through my new "thistle" color.  (Does anyone remember Hypercolor T-shirts from the late 80's early 90's (you would breath on them and they'd change colors), well I never had one, but now I feel like the hippest girl on the block. )

I'd resolved the color issue with the T-shirt and now it was on to making the image "pop".  You can see in the early photos that the transfer did work, but it was rather subtle (2 shades of thistle instead of thistle and blue).   So I picked up my handy embroidery thread and began doing some hand stitching around my image.  I didn't stitch around all of the little circles in the design, but I did do the flower.  My T-shirt is stretch so I allowed my thread to pucker the fabric a bit (I just liked the look of it). I then attached a simple coordinating button in the center of the flower for added interest.  Then I used some lightweight fusible interfacing to secure the threads and prevent them from pulling when the shirt is being worn.

I'll be honest, for my first attempt I used an old T that I wasn't crazy about, it usually serves as a pajama top.  So the fit isn't perfect.  My new flower image, paired with the new thistle hue, filled me with a desire to "girlify" the T-shirt even more.  I gathered the sleeves by using some more embroidery thread. I just gathered  the top of the sleeve (probably the top 1/3, I did want it to be comfortable and still fit over my arms).

The fit of the T-shirt isn't perfect, but I am much more pleased with the alterations.  I might still wear it to bed, but I will probably wear it out to do yard work, maybe I'll even wear it camping this weekend.

Chocolate Meringue Clouds with Sweet Cherry Syrup-Gluten Free

It is officially summer, wether or not it feels like it.  Summer means oh so many things to me: Barbecues, family reunions, flip-flops, cracked heels (more on cracked heels later), cool drinks, and tasty treats.  I don't know about everyone else, but the summer heat can really kill your appetite.  I love to have some light desserts when it comes to entertaining (and indulging).

Meringues are light and won't sit heavy in your stomach on a hot summer days. They are very versatile and can be dressed up (with syrup, berries, chocolate, or whipped cream) or be served as a tasty cookie as is. Most meringues are also naturally gluten free-making them a great choice for those of us who live with Celiac Disease or who are on a gluten-free diet. Don't be scared off by the fact that they are gluten free-my husband enjoys these as well. You can find the recipe here.

This particular variation was inspired by some slightly over ripened cherries that I had sitting in my refrigerator.  I hope that you enjoy.  The syrup is made by pitting and pureeing ripe cherries.  Cooking over medium heat with some sugar, corn syrup, and a drop of food coloring.  Cook until mixture begins to thicken.

I really love Hershey's new special dark baking cocoa.  It makes everything oh so delicious.

If you try it out let me know what you think.

Book Shelf: Organization Inspiration-Borrowed Ideas

Alright-to finish up my book shelf organization post I'm going to share these great ideas (which aren't mine) with you.  My husband really wants this reading area for his own.  I love the storage under the bed, the great lighting, and the surround book shelves (I also love that the book shelves are out of the reach of little hands). See more here.

 

I thought that these were a couple of great ideas for additional storage of books.  The end table seems like a really practical way to use the space that is often wasted.  I am not convinced that the books would be easy to get to though. You can find more great ideas on this topic at Decorating Ideas.

This Fireplace was converted into storage area for books...she also used her books to keep her pets out of the fireplace (two purposes served).  See My Happy Home for her original post.

I am really loving these Self shelves. Isn't it a fun way to display your books...just turn your books into a shelf themselves. I found the original post here at femtalks blog. The shelves are from dutchbydesign.

I am not convinced that these books are removable...they may be permanently attached, but I really want to try it.  Doesn't it look fun.  I found the image on this library's website.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any other info about the shelf.

This last idea is possibly my favorite of all.  Look at these great book markers-you know mark the placement of a book on the shelf (not your place in the book). They would be so cute on a child's book shelf.  I really want these.  I just need to find them.  The only link I could find to a store was not in English...and there was no way that I was reading it-you can give it a shot though (here).  The original post can be found at Apartment Therapy.

I hope that you are inspired to organize your books in a new way.  I am sure feeling inspired.