{birthday shirt}

I was asked to make this cute little shirt for my nephew who will be turning two this week

This is such a cute and fun shirt for any kid to wear at any age and guess what??

IT'S SUPER EASY TO MAKE....I'M NOT JOKING

Even if you are a beginner sewer you can do this...I promise

Want to make one? Here is what you'll need:

t-shirt

scrap fabric for number

paper or card stock

fusible webbing (Ashley from Make It and Love It has beautifully explained what it is HERE)

thread

iron

sewing machine

Here's what to do:

1. Print out from your computer or free hand draw the number that you want to use. Make sure it's the right size to fit your shirt. I like to use card stock because it's a little thicker.

2. Cut out the number.

3. Trace the number BACKWARDS (very important...if you don't do this then your number
will end up being backwards on your shirt) onto the paper part of the fusible
webbing that you are using. I prefer to use either Wonder Under or Lite Heat n Bond.

4. Iron the number onto the WRONG side of the fabric.

5. Cut out number again but this time it will have the fabric attached

6. Peel off the back of the fusible webbing (the paper),
position it on your shirt and iron it down

7. Stitch down. I stitched this as close to edge as possible...probably about 1/8 inch stitch.
I just eyeballed it

8. Now you are all done!!!

Now that wasn't that hard was it?

Birthday Book

Hello there!!
Today I want to share a gift I made for Mother Hen last month for her birthday.  As some of you know, Mother Hen travels a lot.  And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT!  She travels all over the country selling Texas Twisters at fairs, normally every weekend from June to October. So when it comes to kids and grandkids birthdays, she has to send cards for most of them.  More than once I've gotten a call from Mother Hen, asking what birthdays were coming up for the next couple weeks.  I really don't mind telling her, but I decided I could come up with something cute to help her keep track of the birthdays.
So I made her a birthday book!  What is a birthday book, you ask?  Well, here ya go!  Prepare for picture overload!

I'm sorry I don't have any before pictures, but I basically took an old photo album that I had, recovered it, and re bound it.  I was initially going to keep the same binding that the photo album had, but after decorating each of the pages, the book was too big.  So I punched holes in each page, attached eyelets, and bound it with fishing wire.  Not my first choice for binding, but it worked!

For the pages, I cut a piece of cardstock to the size of the cover. Then I used another piece of cardstock, cut it an inch shorter, and folded the edges over the back, making a pocket in the front on the right side.  For the left side, I just printed out a calendar for each month, wrote on the birthdays, and glued it on, which covered the folded edges from the pocket side (did that make sense??).

I wanted to have a pocket for each month so she could keep birthday cards in it.  I made a few of the birthday cards, and then bought the rest.  So not only does she have a calendar that she can take with her, but she has birthday cards ready for an entire year!  All she has to do is fill them out and mail them!  I also did the calendar this way so she can write in birthdays when needed.  Our last birthday calendars were missing quite a few grandkids that hadn't been around when the calendar was made. 

So here's how I decorated the pages for each month.  I owe a huge thanks to my awesome sister Jacki for helping me do some of the pages.  I'm pretty sure this would have ended up as a Christmas present for Mother Hen if Jacki hadn't helped me! :)  On the right side of each page, you can see I attached ribbon.  I was trying to figure out how to print on ribbon so I could type the month on each ribbon, but it just didn't happen.  So I just picked ribbon that coordinated with each page.

I finished off the book by adding some ribbon to tie it closed.  It was bound with fishing wire, but the ribbon helped keep it together.

I love how it turned out, and I know Mother Hen really appreciates it!  So what do you think? 
Thanks for reading!!
-Juli-

Linking to these great parties!

You're Invited!!!!

My Oldest is turning 5!!  I had fun making these trucks, because he loves them so much!  Hope you enjoy!
   (sorry about the picture, I had to send it from my old phone, because I can't find my cord)
Jess

Mario vs Sonic Birthday Party!

My oldest kiddo celebrated his 6th birthday last month (sniff sniff)! Man he's growing up fast! Jonathan loves Mario and Sonic, so we decided the theme would be Mario and Sonic at the Water Olympics.

When the kids first arrived, they got to choose whether they were going to be team Mario or team Sonic by picking a hat.

I shared how I made the hats HERE

Next came the games. I initially thought we would have Team Sonic compete against Team Mario. But a couple of the boys weren't able to come, so we had more kids on Team Sonic. We just divided them into two teams, and they all still had fun.
Our first game was the Mario vs Sonic Relay Race. I just got a couple of containers, filled them with water, and then had the kids race to fill the smaller container with water by using a shovel. It was a really simple game, but the kids had fun.

For the next game we did an obstacle course. They started out by spinning around a bat 5 times, just to get them dizzy!

Then they had to climb through a tunnel, which proved to be almost impossible for the older boys!

Then they had to sit in a pool of water

My husband and little munckin getting in on the fun

Last they had to do a hurdle over a stick. I wish I could have found something different for them to jump over, but this was what I had! And the kids don't care if it looks goofy!

Next we played Get the Goomba

This game was fun, but was ruined by the crummy water guns I bought. They were only $1 at Walmart, and I thought I scored! Then we went to use them, and they didn't really even work. So this game was short-lived, but it could have been really fun.

For the last game we did a Yoshi Egg Toss. I got white balloons, and Jacki colored green spots on them so they looked like Yoshi eggs. Of course I didn't get a picture of the egg balloons, but you get the idea! I would also recommend you get water balloons for this. I couldn't find any white water balloons, so I used regular balloons, and they wouldn't pop!

After the games, we had cupcakes and ice cream cups

I just printed the Mario and Sonic pictures onto cardstock, and then Jacki punched them out with a circle punch, and did a coordinating scallop punch to back it. I love how these turned out, and they were so much easier than making a cake and having to bring plates and utensils. I also didn't want to make a cake because last year I made this cake for Jonathan for his 5th birthday

Ok, back to the party!!

We ended the party by awarding each of the kids with a gold medal and a bag of treats. Again, I don't have a picture of the goody bags, but I just bought red and blue goody bags from Walmart, and stuffed them with junk. I found Mario Kart memo pads and stickers at Party city, and I bought Mario Kart fruit snacks from the grocery store. The rest of the goodies were just generic water party gifts like water bombs, mini water guns, and more treats. This party ended up being so fun, even though quite a few of the kids weren't able to come. Now I'm just hoping my son likes something other than Mario or Sonic next year!

Thanks for reading!!
Juli

Linking to THESE fabulous parties!

Mario and Sonic Hats

Hello there!!  Thanks for stopping by!

My son turned 6 at the end of last month, and he was very adamant that he wanted a Mario and Sonic Party.  We decided the theme would be Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games.  As one of the favors, I made hats for each of the kids.  

Thanks to my adorable models!! :)

When they arrived at the party, the kids got to choose whether they wanted to be Team Mario or Team Sonic by picking a hat.  I already had experience making the Mario hat, because 2 years ago for halloween, my son was Mario and my husband was Luigi.

Awesome, right?! :)  Super cheesy, but it was cheap, easy, and doable!! And it was a lot better than paying $40 for the costumes at the store!

So anyway!!  I started out by searching all the thrift stores in our area for red and blue hats.  I was planning for 10-15 kids to be at the party, so I couldn't afford to pay $7 for a plain blue or red hat from Walmart.  I ended up paying $3 for most of the hats at the thrift store, but some of them were only $1.  The hats started out like this

First I cut a piece of white felt big enough to cover the stuff on the front of the hat

I glued the top of the felt onto the hat first, and then moved down.  On most of the hats I had to trim some of the felt where it met the brim of the hat so it wouldn't bunch.  Once that was done, I worked on cutting out the M's and Sonic's.  The Sonic was a pain, and I still think it looks a little goofy, but the kids knew what it was and didn't seem to mind!

I'm not sure why I didn't draw in the eyes on Sonic for the pictures, but oh well.  You get the general idea!  All the kids loved their hats, and were so excited that they got to take them home.
What do you think?
Check back next week when I post about the actual Mario vs Sonic at the Olympic Games party! (wow, that's a mouthful!)
Thanks for reading!
Juli

Linking to THESE fabulous parties!!