I'm plaid for plaid!

Ok, so first came the little tiny bows, they are so stinkin' cute I became a little obsessed... Then, was the notion to turn them into bow-ties. From there you logically end up in PLAID! Its a no-brainer really. 

I started out making little bow-ties for boys t-shirts. I think they came out super cute! These are the first couple that I made as gifts for Christmas:

I ran across this fabric and initially I thought, "Easter!" then I thought "Grace!" I made this shirt and hair clip for her to wear at a friend's retirement party tomorrow. He worked in suits and we have never seen him in casual clothes, so we thought it would be kind of a cute/funny homage.

I fell in love with how the flower came out, so I started twisting up all kinds of different fabrics I had initially bought for ties. The result is super fun; kind of nerdy, a little vintage, even a touch "shabby."

Crafting with my Kiddo!

Every once in a while someone will give Grace a dollar, and she is starting to get excited about it, so I thought it was time for her to have a piggy bank. I had a plain white one sitting around that I had bought with the intentions to paint for a friend's baby, sorry Maddi.... So I used that and some bright craft paints I also had laying around and let her loose!

She was super excited to get to paint, she loves it! She was even more excited when I told her she could paint the piggy. :D

I kept trying to turn him so she could paint all  the way around, but she was really focused on his face. She really liked painting his "noo" or nose.

She thought his swirly tail was a nose too... I am starting to think that green is her favorite color, no matter how many colors where on the trey and how I turned it, she still picked green.

 The finished piggy! She is so proud, she points him out every time we walk past him now. :D

She was so into the painting she didn't want to stop! So I got out some construction paper and let her keep going until Daddy got home. All things cease when Daddy gets home... its kind of a big deal. So, we proudly showed off our handy work to a very impressed Daddy. A good way to end a good day.

Mommy's little helper

I got some fun new black and grey hounds-tooth jersey material and made a bunch of new pieces last night. I love how they came out! I was trying to take some pictures this morning, but I had a little too much help... Grace thinks that ALL the "pretties" Mommy makes are for her, so she was running around with them on her arm like a purse. She also decided she needed 3 headbands at once. Goofball. So, as I tried to get some pictures of my pieces I also got some funny ones of her, and I thought I would share them. :)

Getting Ready

I will have a booth at the Unglued: Craft Fest again this year! I am super excited. We were putting our order together for supplies last night, and I couldn't help feeling a little guilty. I always feel a little guilty when I get supplies, like we should be spending the money on something else. Today I spent a good 5 minutes in the hair aisle at Target debating on whether I should get 2 packs of headbands or just 1... I eventually decided on 2, but I took me the whole 5 minutes, and I doubted myself all the way to the register.
I think we are going to order something like $50 in supplies and it just kills me to spend that much, especially in one shot. We need all of it though. My husband is the one who kept adding items to the shopping cart! He is super supportive, and always offering his advice (solicited or not,) and that makes it much easier to continue crafting away. In the car yesterday he was listing off all these different shows and places to try and sell my craftiness. I think he has my whole summer planned out!
I will try to keep posting and adding pictures as I get things completed. Feel free to let me know if there is anything you think I should stock up on, or try out!

Upcycling!

I recently came across some super cute patch style, up-cycled dresses and did the "I can do that!" thing... I thought it was such a cute idea, I had to try it. 

I'm hooked.
The first one I made was definitely the most difficult. I was too excited to see how it would come out to slow down and pay attention to what I was doing... But, after a few long nights and several curse words I cam up with this. I think it is totally cute, and she loves it!

I liked the idea of using old shirts, but didn't like how "patchy" some of them were, so using an old pajama pattern I picked up from Walmart eons ago and only 2 fabrics, I dove in.

The pattern I used was super easy to follow, only 5 pieces! I used the old Callahan Auto shirt for the main body and simply dropped the hem to a longer dress/tunic length. For this one I thought it would look neat if the design was sideways so I arranged my pieces accordingly on the shirt. For the sleeves I chose the shorter length and lined the pattern up with the existing hem of the old shirt, this way I didn't have to mess with hemming the sleeves. I also cut the collar from the blue shirt.

I was cruising right along until I got to the collar... I glanced quick at the instructions and went back to my machine. Once it was sewn on, twice around... I realized I had sewn it to the outside, instead of the inside... great. So for an easy fix I just rolled the collar back over to the front and ran a stitch around again. The result is a slightly thinner, wider neck which I actually kind of like on the girls dresses. 

Then I had to hem it. Now my machine used to belong to my grandmother, and it is the same age as me, so it can be a bit touchy. I got almost half way around the bottom and I noticed THIS:

A big mess of extra thread on the outside of the dress! Awesome. So I sat and ripped the whole seem out, and of course I cant find my seem ripper... So I am using a stick pin and a tiny scissors. I eventually got the whole thing ripped, but I am still not sure why my machine does this to me. It happens somewhat regularly and I have tried everything; changing tension, adding bobbin thread, needles... It really seems to just stop when it is good and ready to sew again. I eventually decided that I would not hem the dress both for aesthetic and stress reasons. 

I am totally hooked on these shirts and dresses, and I have made several projects out of recycled shirts, including some leggings!

Freebies!

If I can get 35 or more fans on facebook, you guys will reap the benefits! I will randomly draw from my fans and the winner will receive an item of their choice! This could be something currently available, a past creation, or even something made just for you! SO, put the word out, TinySquish rocks! (or something to that effect) :)

Been a while...

Ok, so clearly I am not the best blogger...

It has been a crazy month or so. Between family get-togethers, bridal showers, and babysitting, I don't get much time to post or craft. I did make a slew of pieces for a local grand opening event, and have been making a bunch of girls pieces. Right now I am working on a couple onesies for a classmates of mine who just had their first child. Oh, and I tried my hand at making a dress from a tank top! That actually came out really cute. 

Really, I am supposed to be making the flowers for my sister-in-law's wedding... Every time I think about the weddings I get inspired to make something else. One of the draw backs of a creative (and frazzled) mind I guess. No worries though, Cory has offered to help! :) I just need to set aside a weekend and work on them, maybe this weekend... 

Well, I time to try and sleep some before the tornado sirens inevitably wake me up again...