Upcycled Kids Poncho

We've been getting some warm days around these parts. Around low 60s for the high..pretty dang nice. Man, but once that sun starts to set or clouds cover the sun for just a bit you can feel that chilly, mountain breeze. Its so tricky because I want to take out the dollies' summer clothes, but you know right around the corner it's probably going to snow! Crazy Utah weather :(

Anywhoo.. I was organizing my garage on one of those nice, sunny afternoons and found a hoodie I was going to donate and decided to upcycle it into something I've been wanting to try. It's nice and cozy and smooth on the inside, but was just a bit to short my my liking.  Deconstructing it a bit and adding a little bit here and there it turned into this!

 

Cute huh? She looks so cozy in it:) Its perfect for those cool evenings and was oh so easy to make!

Here's how I did it:

 

I started with a plain adult hoodie. Size small used here which made a size 2T/3T poncho.

 

 

Next I cut off the arms, pulled out the drawstring of the hood and, cut off the bottom about 3 inches to make it shorter. Didn't hem it because the fleece doesn't fray.

 

 

 

Didn't take pictures of these steps.

• I seam ripped the kangaroo pocket the positioned it higher so her little hands could fit in it.
• Sewed up the sides from where I cut the arms off then made slits on the sides where her arms would go.
• Used embroidery thread to blanket stitch the edges of the slits to make it look more finished.
• Turned hoodie part inside out then sewed it smaller to fit her head and used the original hem as a guide.
• Cut a slit does the neck and blanket stitched with embroidery thread for extra detail. Then added a little more design to the pouch by embroidering more around the edges, but used white thread to stand out.
• Still felt like it needed a little more oomph so I added lining to the hood with some vintage, floral fabric.

And that was it! New poncho!

 

 

Aww look at that grumpy little face. She was upset because I wouldn't let her climb on those rocks..crazy girl! She still looks super cute though ;o)

 

 

I love that fabric and I'm sad I'm running out boo! But at least its getting some use out of it.

 

 

I love how easily she can just throw it on now I need to make one for big dolly, but I'm probably going to need to buy a large adult hoodie. I can just see them wearing them on a cool night by a campfire:) Man now I want one too! hehe

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

xo

Georgette

 

 



DIY Polkadot Stool

Have you guys been crazy over the gold sharpie madness like I have?? I've seen so many cute ideas on how to use a gold sharpie all over pinterest.

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Well I thought if you can decorate dishware, walls and even your nails why not some furniture? It's easy, adorable,cheap, and doesn't take long to dry! So that's when I decided to attack my little ikea stool with some sharpie polka dots:)

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up this little stool for 14.99 at Ikea and you can find it here. Being the 4"11 shrimp I am I use it for EVERYTHING! I had painted it white before to brighten it up a bit.

 

 

 

 

So first you start with your supplies.

 

 

The hole punch I used is a size 1.5", but you could easily trace a bottle cap or something that has the size circle you want.

I just hole punched a piece of a cereal box then got to tracing.

 

 

I didn't strategically place them. I just eyeballed on what looked cool and confetti like.

Then just colored them in. This part was fun, but tricky making sure I didn't go outside the lines so be careful!

 

 

Just take your time and have fun. For only costing about $2 for the sharpie it was a nice, distracting craft.

I've been househunting lately which hasn't been as much fun as I hoped so it was nice to take my mind of it for awhile.

 

So why don't you add some polkadots to your life? Promise it will make ya feel better;)

 

 

*hugs*

Georgette

 

 

 

 





A Dresser for my Dollies

Oh my goodness..why is it that when life seems like its getting out of control is when I finally do something about it? For 3 years I was able to fit 2 little girls sets of clothes in the closet in neat little stacks on the shelves, but then (on more than 1 occasion) PJs would be under the bed, pants and tees thrown on the floor. There was literally no room for their everyday clothes. I looked at my husband and asked,"Why haven't we bought the dollies' a dresser??! For months and I mean MONTHS I searched online, thrift stores, ads and nothing popped up that was my style or budget like always. Finally one day I found one on  my local online ads for 20 bucks. Now that I look back I really wish I would have paid less, but I was getting desperate for things to get in order.
Here it was before in all its laminate glory...

Yuck right? I wish I would have gotten a better photo, but I was so impatient to start fixing it up. Just imagine dark brown laminate on the front of the drawers too. 

I kept the original handles and just mod podged some left over scraps of a vintage sheet I had. I wish I would have painted the drawers white first because you can see small areas of the dark wood underneath, but you live and learn.

Then just added 3 coats of white paint. I didn't want to spend alot and just bought a sampler container of some Valspar paint plus I get military discount at Lowe's so I think it came out to $2.

The dollies' love it and they now know where to put their clothes away which makes things soooo much easier in the morning! So $22 dollars later we have a new little dresser!
I'm think later I'm going to paint those cute, little tapered legs a hot pink but leave the gold tips. Fun right?

So as long as it has a nice shape not all laminate can be scary;)

*hugs*
Georgette

A Constant Battle

I've been dealing with the fact that we are not through with military life. 
I've been preparing my mind and spirit that we were moving onto a new chapter in our lives. That we were going to move back home with family. Where my husband grew up and where we met. Finally buy a home, have bbqs on the weekend, listen to Tejano in the mornings making breakfast, have the hot, sticky sun on our faces, and have our daughters be surrounded by our very, large extended family. But plans have changed like everything in life and I'm constantly struggling with myself to accept this new road.

It's been a long, tough, but rewarding experience these past 6 years. Going into it I thought it was nothing and could handle it all since I was a military daughter growing up, boy was I wrong! Being a wife and mother in this lifestyle is a whole new ballgame. The first 2 years being away caused me to have a lot of anxiety. I couldn't sleep and always felt restless throughout the day. In a way I couldn't program my mind to understand.."This is your life now not a vacation from home." Not to mention since I was 13 have been dealing with depression that unfortunately is extremely hereditary in my family. (ugh I'll save that story for another day.) Meeting other wives, making friends and saying goodbye to them. Changing homes, changing schools..or worse deployments ugh. It wasn't all bad though, but when I look at the bad times it does try to overpower me.

It seems when life gets to heavy like this I go through the same pattern. I try to distract my mind with more projects, more recipes, more thrifting trips, more crafts with my girls, more reading. So that throughout the day I don't have time to think and dwell on things that are no longer in my control. So that I don't disappear on the sofa in my pajamas watching movies that depress me even more. I look at my daughters and appreciate the fact that they are healthy, taken care of, and happy.  They ultimately are my peace. But once night hits and everyone is sound asleep is when my mind starts to run. And all the "what ifs" start taking over.

I know its going to be another long and bumpy road adjusting. I'm not very religious, at times I wish I was, but I do have alot of faith. I have faith that whatever we are given on our plate god makes sure  we can handle it and get through it. It won't be easy, but that is all part of living and experiencing  life I suppose.
You know I feel good already letting it all out to you whoever may be reading this and thank you for that. One thing I always tell myself is...

 

 

Thanks for listening to my ramblings and current worries. It helps.

 

*hugs*

Georgette

Put a Doily On It!

I love doilies. They are feminine and sweet. I love all the work and detail put into them. And they are so easy to find(and cheap)! Thrift stores, garage sales.. or your grandma;)  They are real treasures, but they can be more than just throwing them in odd places or under items.
Over the years I've found myself sticking them everywhere. Here are a few ideas on how I use them in my home.

 

 

 

To snazz up a simple mousepad I just stuck on a doily. You can sew it or modpodge it, but I just placed it on there and it doesn't wiggle around. Super easy!

 

 

 

 

How about some instant art? I modpodged these paper doilies to a blank canvas and voila!

 

 

 

 

 

Dress up a naked window with a doily garland! I picked up a bag of these little beauties for a buck at the thrift store. I just sewed them all together and hung them up!

 

 

 

 

 

To make my little girls bed more girly I just sewed one onto a throw pillow. 10 minutes to happier pillowcases:)

 

 

 

 

 

It really doesn't take much time or money for that matter to dress up your home.  These little handmade treasures make everything happy!

 

Now go and put a doily on it! ;)

 

*hugs*

Georgette

 

 

 





Around These Parts

It's been an emotional rollercoaster here lately. I've been really happy with how my daughter is rolling along in homeschool. Yet the winter blues have been trying to pull me down. I feel like bits and pieces of home are coming together. But I just found out we are not moving back to Texas and staying in Utah.

 

I've been anticipating this move for over a year now and so has our family back home. It's been extremely hard accepting our new path, but I constantly try to remind myself it's for a reason.  The military has blessed us in many ways and I'm very grateful. I suppose it was the whole idea of finally planting some roots somewhere, but over the years I've learned that home is wherever you make home.  Things could be a whole lot worse for us and when I'm struggling accepting where we are it reminds me to keep counting my blessings.

 

Here's a few pics from my instagram feed around these parts.

 

 

 

 

 

1. my dollies heading out to play//2. new embroidery I made for my love for pyrex// 3. family time// 4.thrifting treasures// 5.dress refashion// 6.handmade dollies for my dollies// 7. "Home is Where the Heart Is"

 

 

 

*hugs*

Georgette



crazy for finger knitting

I have always been a bit in love with the art of crocheting and knitting. I love thrifting or seeing all the time, work, and love put into projects like that. It's such a beautiful craft that not many do anymore, but has become a bit more popular. I've tried my hand at both, but sadly could not get it down. I stumbled upon finger knitting on pinterest and after seeing photos of young children getting the hang of it I thought it should be easy enough!
Well it was pretty dang easy after 10 minutes of throwing myself into it and I must admit it is SO ADDICTING! My 6 year even figured it out and made herself a little knitted headwrap and scarf!

I want to share this little craft with you and attempt to make a tutorial to teach you as well. I love the quiet time my daughter and I had together. With us kinda being stuck indoors with all the snow it calms her when she's a little restless.
So here we go..

• Step1: start by grabbing your yarn over your palm and holding the tail with your thumb

 

• Step 2: wrap around pinkie then come back again around your middle finger under ring finger and over pinkie.

 

• Step3:  come back around pinkie over ring finger, under middle around index. This is the bottom row.



 

• Step 4: to make the second row on top you go under middle,over ring, around pinkie, under ring again, over middle and around index. See now 2 rows!

 

Step 5: your going to grab the bottom row and stick your ringer through the top row starting from the pinkie.



 

 

 

 

See now you have one row again so your gonna do Step 4 to make that second row and repeat pulling the bottom row over your finger to make your chains. After about 4 times doing this you should already see a little chain forming.

 

 

That's it! I takes approximately the time of a movie to make a big chunky scarf and I love that I don't have to count rows or chains. It's just a nice Sunday afternoon craft to keep little hands busy:)

She loves em!

 

 

 

And so do I!

 

 

Add a little brooch? Don't mind if I do!

 

 

Or wrap it around your head like my dolly.

 

 

Hoped this little tutorial helped and you love it as much as I do!

 

Thanks for visiting:)

 

*hugs*

Georgette