Top

2 Little Hooligans

Toy Dozer {Review & Giveaway}

So how many of you have kids? And how many of you have kids that don’t like to pick up their toys? Yup, that is me too, well actually I have 3 of them. So when I was given the chance to try out this great new product called The Toy Dozer I was all for it.

The Toy Dozer is sorta like a real bulldozer, but for kids and instead of picking up dirt it picks up toys. Brilliant right? The Toy Dozer comes with two parts the gatherer and the scoop and makes picking up all those little toys quicker and funner. I think we can all agree that we could use a little help to make pick up time faster and funner. The moment I took the Toy Dozers out of the box my kids were excited, especially a certain little boy that LOVES his tractors. In the past my little guy used to use his tractors to pick up his Lego’s or Lincoln Logs during pick up time. And do you know how long it takes a little tractor with a super tiny bucket to pick up all those small pieces? FOREVER! So now the Toy Dozer makes cleaning up much faster. I decided to store our Toy Dozers out of reach so that when it is clean up time they have something fun to use. We have been using them for a few weeks now and they still get lots of cheers when it’s time to use them. So what do I love about these? First of all…can you say hello pretty colors! And yes they match my playroom perfectly, oh I just love that! They are big but also lightweight, so even my littlest is able to use them. The handles are easy to hold and even have a little hole under the handle for easy dumping. We like to scoop our beads (or any other small toy) into the scoop part and then use the little hole in the back to pour the beads into the bead container. They have definitely made clean up time faster and funner. Now I wont lie, I still have to watch the kiddo’s to make sure they are picking their toys up and not just playing with their dozers. The dozers seem to be a fun toy as well as a useful toy for my kids. The Toydozer is available exclusively on the Toydozer.com website and comes in three vibrant colors: purple, yellow and blue. All pictured below. The product retails for $18.99 and ships for free anywhere in Canada or the U.S. Each Toy Dozer conveniently fits inside of one another, and yes I would recommend one for each kiddo because there is nothing like having “Dozer Races” to make clean up time even faster! Seriously, the only thing that would make these more fun was if they made dozer sounds. So enough about how much we love these, here is how you can win one?You have three chances to win, so please make sure you leave a separate comment for each chance to win. Giveaway will end April 17, 2012.

First Chance: Leave me a comment telling me which color you would want.

Second Chance: Like Toy Dozer on Facebook here.

Third Chance: Blog or Tweet about the giveaway and come back to tell me you did so.

Plus the wonderful people over at Toy Dozer have given a 20% off discount for my readers. Just use the coupon code: BLOGGER20 at the checkout.

**This post is part of a Toydozer blogger outreach campaign. Participating bloggers have been provided with a complimentary Toydozer to review and have been compensated for their time.** With that said, all of the opinions are 100% mine.

Project Run & Play sew along {Week 1: circle skirt remix}

So I have decided to sew along with this seasons Project Run & Play competition. I have been obsessed with this competition from the start and have admired all of the amazing designers that have participated. I have always wanted to compete in the past, but honestly sewing kids clothes was pretty foreign for me. And really I didn’t know how to make anything other then a simple peasant dress or simple skirt. So this year I decided I better start learning how to sew clothes for the kiddo’s or it would always be foreign to me. The only way to learn it is to do it, right? So here I am learning as I sew along. For those of you wondering what Project Run & Play is it is an online competition for crafty bloggers. It’s sorta like Project Runway but for kids clothes. Sounds fun right? Well It is! And it is so fun seeing all of the amazing designs that are made each week. This weeks theme is to remix Dana’s Circle Skirt Tutorial. Circle skirts are one of the easiest things to make and are so fun to do. Really, once you make one your hooked! So I decided to remix the circle skirt by making it into a dress. The only thing funner then a circle skirt is a circle dress, right? The dress on the left is actually three circle skirts at three different heights with a vintage ruffle trim around each layer. Then there is a little more of the vintage trim around the collar of the bodice. The design of the bodice is something I made up from an old tank top I had in the kids drawers. The dress on the right was made of two circle skirts in two different fabrics and then attached with the same bodice design as the other dress. For this dress I made a little tie that is attached to the front of the dress and ties with a bow in the back. I slightly gathered the tie at the sides for a little added detail. Both of the dresses close in the back with snaps. I’m really happy with the outcome of them and really, seeing these two wearing dresses that I made just makes my heart melt!Just when you think your little ones can’t get any cuter, put them in an outfit you have made. Talk about bringing your love of sewing to a new level.

I love hearing people say that their mother’s always made their clothes when they were growing up. I hope someday my kids will be able to say the same. So wanna join in and learn along the way how to sew kids clothes? I promise it is not as hard as it looks! Now head on over to Project Run & Play to see the rest of the weeks competition, they are going to be great.

Easter 2012

I finished the kiddo’s Easter outfits just in time. Yes I was up until midnight sewing a bow tie, but it was worth it! I’m really starting to love sewing clothes for the kiddo’s. I wish I could say that my Easter dress was as cute as the kiddo’s, but it was not. I actually didn’t even wear it. The design was all wrong for me. I’m not sure why I would have attempted to make such a dress in the first place. The style was all wrong and I never would have tried it on in a store. I’m learning a lot about sewing clothes for myself, unfortunately I’m learning the hard way…through trial and error. After church we had a yummy breakfast with the whole gang at Auntie’s house, then we headed home for an Easter egg hunt. Grammy filled and hid the eggs with pennies. And yes, Grammy went way overboard on the amount of eggs that were hidden. My little guy is planning on buying a tractor with all of his pennies.
He loved his bow tie and has even requested a matching one for Daddy. It took them awhile to realize that the Easter Bunny had visited. They are still too young to really understand it. Plus they were too busy counting pennies. After we consumed large amounts of candy we headed out for another meal, egg hunt and a mean game of softball. We had so much fun playing… even if we had a hard time getting out of bed this morning. But it was worth it. What a great Easter!

Crafting with the kiddo’s

It has been one of those weeks when everyone in the house is sick. Nothing too major, just bad colds, croup, stridor, and over all crankiness. I begged the kiddo’s to just lay on the couch and watch movies, but they wouldn’t. All they wanted to do was craft.

It’s amazing how a bottle of glue and lots of crafting supplies can change one’s mood around…very quickly.

I didn’t care about the messes. The kiddo’s were happy and I was able to just sit there and watch for hours while sipping a cup of tea…with no one on my lap!
`Maybe it was the Elmer’s Glue that caused croup? We tried making bunnies out of used milk jugs.
Some of them actually looked like bunnies.
Whereas others looked like…umm…this.

Lots of masterpieces were made that day I tell ya!
The next day we got some of our seeds in the mail.
And we couldn’t wait to get planting.
Those little hands were so eager to help and sow some seeds they did.

Now that they are sprouting I can tell exactly who planted which row. I’m happy to say at least they are all sprouting, I just have a lot of thinning to do.
But the highlight of the week was coloring our Easter eggs. Since when does one package come with so many colors?
My kiddos have a love for color almost as much as I do.
And a love for lining things up. I wish they were that neat with their toys.
We were lucky, no spilled cups. And believe me, there was a lot of dunking going on! They would start at one end of the table checking each cup, over and over again. I tell ya, cheap entertainment. Why don’t we do this more often?
Eggs this pretty should be done more often!

So I guess we didn’t accomplished much this week other then making lots of crafty messes and that is all right with me. Whatever it takes to keep the kiddo’s happy and me sane…and get rid of these colds! Off to make two more Easter dresses. Wish me luck. Sewing with the kids around is always a challenge.

Fat Quarter Friday {Guest Post from Nature’s Heirloom}

Good morning everyone and welcome to Fat Quarter Friday!
 
I’m so excited to be back sharing these fun little projects again and with Easter just a few days away this is the perfect tutorial to be sharing, especially for those little guys in your life. I know most of us are making Easter dresses for the little girls, but let’s not forget those little guys in our lives as well. Bow ties are such a quick and easy way to dress up that little guy’s outfit, plus a little bow tie to coordinate with the girls dresses cannot get any cuter! My little guy is obsessed with bow ties right now and has already requested one for Easter. So I knew that I had to have one of my favorite bloggers back to share her tutorial for little bows/ bow ties. It is a great tutorial and I’m so glad that Niki is here sharing it with all of us.
 
So Let’s welcome back Niki from Nature’s Heirloom

Hello Hooligan readers!! I’m Nikki from Nature’s Heirloom, and I’m so glad to be back to do another Fat Quarter Friday!! Christina thought it would be fun for me to share my tutorial for bows/bowties, just in time for Easter.

So here’s how you make them!!
Materials needed:

-fabric strip A (8 1/4″ x 2 3/4″)
-fabric strip B (7 1/2″ x 2 1/4″)
-fabric strip C (2 3/4″ x 1 1/2″)-sewing machine
-scissors
-needle and thread
-iron
-headband/alligator clip or any hair clip/elastic/safety pin/whatever you want
Start with fabric strip A (the larger one). Fold it in half width-wise.
Sew it about 1/8″ from the edge (or as close as you want to get). Then iron it flat so the folded edge has a distinct crease.

Unfold and line up the seam and the folded crease.

Sew along the top 1/8″ from the edge.

Sew along the bottom, leaving a small opening in the center to turn fabric right side out.

Turn fabric right side out, pushing corners out completely, and then press all the edges.

Sew the opening closed with either in invisible stitch (such as a ladder stitch) for a cleaner finish, or just top sew it closed as close to the edge as you can get it (as I did here). The stitching will be on the bottom of the bow, both tucked a little under the bow and mostly covered by the center tie. But do as you’d like!

Repeat these steps for fabric strip B.

When fabric strips A and B are done, lay and center fabric strip B on top of fabric strip A.

Make sure the “top stitched” edges are down if you chose to do a top stitch instead of an invisible stitch.

Sandwich it closed pinching the center along the bottom as shown above.

Fold the two sides in the center down as shown above.

Stick a pin through all layers to hold it.

With a threaded needle, pull the thread through on the right side of the pin.

Then pull the thread through on the left side of the pin.

Pull the needle through the thread loop and pull tight.

Tie the thread to keep the bow tight. Now, with fabric strip C (the center tie), fold it in half length-wise.

Sew along the top and down the side, leaving the bottom open. (I didn’t get a photo of this, so on the photo above, I drew small black “stitch” lines to show where to stitch)

Turn it right side out and press.

While holding the bow, turn it so the bottom of the bow (where you pulled and tied the thread) so it is facing you. Line up the raw edge of the tie with the bottom of the “top bow” as shown above.

Do a loop stitch to secure them together. It doesn’t need to be pretty. You won’t be able to see it later.

Tie off the loop stitch, but don’t cut the thread. We’re just going to pull it through later so we don’t have to re-thread a needle. Pull the center tie around so it crosses the top of the bow.

Don’t pull the center tie too tight so you can slide clips or head bands in and out, letting the bow be interchangeable. (If you want to make the bow permanent for something, you can insert the object under the center tie now, such as a hair clip or safety pin)

Make sure the end of the center tie is on the underside of the bow.

Pull your needle and thread through the bottom of the tie and through the edge of the tie as show above.

Pull and then begin to do either a loop stitch to secure it or an invisible stitch (such as a ladder stitch) if you want a cleaner look. (I personally don’t care what the underside of my bows look like, but I’d probably do an invisible stitch if it was for a gift).

Tie it off and snip the thread. You have yourself a bow!

There are a bunch of things I like to use my bows for. Some times I slide a safety pin underneath the tie and pin it onto the side of a beaded necklace. Or slide in a hair clip as a fast hair accessory for the little girly-girl.

Or slide it onto a headband.

It’s also perfect for a bow tie for the little man. Just pin a safety pin on the end of a 1/4″ elastic and pull it through the tie on the under-side. Sew the ends together or sew some velcro on each end.

And you’ve got yourself a snazzy lookin’ boy!

Hopefully you enjoyed this tutorial! Feel free to stop over at my blog, I’d love to have you!!
Happy Easter!!
 

Thanks again Niki! That little guy of yours cannot get any cuter!

Switching to wordpress and Fat Quarter Friday is returning!

First of all, I wanted to let you all know that things are going to be looking a little different around here soon. I’m finally taking the big leap into the world of wordpress. I have been debating it for some time and after having issues with blogger I finally decided to do it. I’m a bit nervous and excited at the same time. I’m feeling like I need a little change with the looks of my blog and I’m looking forward to the security that wordpress offers. So hang in there with while I learn how to navigate my way.

And my next little bit of news is that you will be seeing this again!

That’s right, I’m finally bringing Fat Quarter Friday back. For those of you new here, I started Fat Quarter Friday a little over a year ago and sadly had to say goodbye to it only a few months into it due to some health issues. But now that I am feeling better, I think it is time for us to start showing those fat quarters some love again!
To see what I and some other guest bloggers shared in the past take a look at the Fat Quarter Friday tutorial page here. A few of those projects are still some of my favorites. I guess that is why I love the idea of sharing all of these projects with you, they are not only quick and fun to make, but they are also practical and useful.

So who wants to be a guest? Have a great tutorial you want to share?

Please send me an email at tw****************@ya***.com . All I ask is that you try and make it be a new design or idea along with a detailed tutorial.

So now I have to ask, what would you like to see for Fat Quarter Friday? I’m always open for new ideas.

Sew your own toddler dress form.

Did you know you could make your own dress form for a fraction of the cost of a store bought one? I never did until I did a quick search on etsy and came across this shop that sells patterns for toddler sized dress forms that you make yourself. How fabulous is that?!

The pattern cost $7.95 and is a huge savings from the $65 ones I had been eyeing. Granted they don’t come on a cute stand and mine surly isn’t as professional looking…but hey it was cheap and I made it. That has to count for something! I purchased a 2t-4t size form but they also have a 9-24 month sized one available as well. The dress pictured is a 2t and fits the dress form perfectly.
The pattern was really easy to follow and took me about 1 hour to make.
The only problem I came across was that my arm and neck holes didn’t exactly line up. When pinning them together I noticed a bit of a gap and really should have trimmed down the oval shapes, but I didn’t and now I wish I would have. They look kinda wonky to me. Also I used a lightweight cotton fabric but would recommend using a heavier weight fabric so that you don’t see the seams and the bunches of batting through the fabric. It kinda bugs me…ok it really bugs me.
But dispite all of that I still love this dress form and highly recommend this pattern! The dress form sits really well on a flat surface and would be just as fun with a tie attached to the top so that it hung.
So if your like me and want a dress form but don’t want to pay the price of a store bought one, why not give this pattern a try.

Special attire for the theatre.

This weekend we finally made it to the theatres to see The Lorax and boy were we excited to go! I’m not sure if it was because it was our first trip to the theatres as a family or if it was because we were going to see our most beloved book played out on the big screen. But seriously, the hubby and I have never been this excited too see a movie ever…oh and the kiddos were excited too! So with it being such a fun and special event I decided to make them some special Lorax attire.

They were so fun to make and seeing how much they loved them made those lost hours of sleep well worth it.
I made the girls dresses sorta following the tutorial A Party Dress from Lil Blue Boo. This is one of my favorite to dresses to make. I love being able to use a already made knit top with a quick to make circle skirt. Plus the girls just love how twirly they!
I downloaded the two Lorax images directly from The Lorax movie site here and just used iron-on paper to apply the images to the shirts. My little guy wanted a tie so I quickly added one to the top of his shirt using the same ribbon that I used in the girls skirts. That little tie just makes me smile so! Their special Lorax outfits definitely added to the whole experience that we will never forget…at least for the ones of us that will remember it!
I just wish our littlest would have been able sit still long enough for Daddy to see the ending. I guess we will just have to go again.

And in case you were wondering we LOVED the movie! It was a lot like the book, yet different in so may ways. Have any of you seen it yet?

Confession: I cannot thread my serger.

That’s right, I cannot thread my serger. I bought a Husqvarna Huskylock s21 a few months ago and have attempted to thread it about 200X and I still cannot get it right. Luckily with the pricey purchase of this non-threadable serger came a free introductory class. I had hoped to learn the basic functions of the serger on my own and use the class to learn how to use the ruffler and the piping foot along with all the other fun accessories that I have for it. But that may not be the case. So I am determined to learn how to thread this beast by the end of this weekend and if I fail, I’m going to call and sign up for a threading lesson…bummer! I hate to admit defeat, but I rather admit defeat then never use it. Plus, I need to make our Easter dresses, I really do not want to zig-zag stitch three Easter dresses.
So tonight the hubby and I have a date with my serger. I’m hoping that my non-sewing hubby can figure it out, but I’m going to be mad if he gets it on the first try…just saying.

So please tell me I am not the only one that has had trouble threading a serger!

Spring already?!

I think it is safe to say that sugaring season is over.

Unless it is normal to be checking for sap barefoot and shirtless.
Its more like hunting for bugs in the bucket season now.
Its been such a weird spring here, 80 degrees for the past few days. Even the bulbs are popping up and so isn’t the rhubarb.
See the little heart? Even the flowers are loving this weather.
We are spending most of our days outside in the sandbox, running around barefoot…
and playing on the swing set. This little one is the daredevil of the bunch, she is a feisty one I tell ya. Don’t let that little smile fool you.
While we are loving these days we are also waiting for one more snowstorm. That’s how it is living in the northeast, the weather is never predictable. But I’m really hoping spring is here!