Cheap & Cozy Sleeper

Good morning and Happy Monday to ya all. Things have been busy in the D&G craft room, although you wouldn't know it looking around this blog. I know, bad, neglectful blogger! 

Taken this weekend...28 weeks!

Can I blame it on the baby in my belly? 

Considering so many moms with actual kids manage to blog EVERY. SINGLE. DAY...probably not. But I promise I have a stock pile of projects ready to post...so stay tuned!

But since I have your undivided attention, here's a little fleece sleeper sack that I whipped up yesterday.

 If you remember, I made one of these a few months ago. This time I used a fleece fabric remnant I bought before Christmas in the Joann's clearance bin. I bought it because it was $2 and I just loved the colors!

I managed to squeeze all the pattern pieces out of the half yard. (Which is why you can see the print goes in different directions!)

This is the easiest pattern I've ever used...literally it took me less than a half hour to make. 

Time well spent for a cozy & cheap little sleeper!

Alexa's LBB Birthday Dress

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. It was a rainy couple of days here in PA...so G & I got some good relaxing time in. But we also were able to finish up a couple of projects, which will come later this week!

But onto today's post. Today is our niece Alexa's 6th birthday! Last week I posted about her flip flop party favors I made. (Word on the street is that they were a hit with the party guests...woohoo!) Anyway, as her birthday present, I made her a birthday dress!

I made a LBB Sienna dress (quickly becoming my favorite thing to sew!)

The pink & purple sections are cut from 2 clearance t shirts I bought at Walmart for $1.50 each.

They were both womens XXL shirts, and after making this size 6 dress, I had enough left over to make a pint sized mini dress for her American Girl doll. Seriously, how stinkin' cute is a matching doll dress?!

The sleeves are made from a heart knit remnant I bought at Joann's months ago.

I added a "6th Birthday" appliqué on the back.

When I showed the finished product to my husband he said, "Wow, that is one bedazzled dress!"

I guess it does have some serious bling...but what 6 year old doesn't love a little bit ok, a lot of glitter?

(Please let this stand as my public apology to my poor sister in law, who will now forever be cleaning up those sparkles!)

Happy 6th Birthday, sweet girl!

Lemonade Yogurt Cupcakes

When life hands you lemons, make cupcakes!

Being that there are only two people in my household, anything I bake is inevitably eaten by either myself or Greg. And we all know that a batch of cookies or cupcakes means at least 12 to 24 treats going down the hatch. All pregnant jokes aside, I have no business eating 24 cupcakes. What's a girl to do?

Lemonade Yogurt Cupcakes!

This was a little experiment I did. The idea is very simple. (Which if you know my baking skills, is my kind of baking project!) 

Directions:

1. Start with any white cake mix. Add the water & egg whites as directed.

2. Substitute fat free lemon greek yogurt equally for the oil. (I have an ongoing love affair with Chobani so that's what I recommend...but you can use whatever brand you'd like.)

3. Add in the zest of one half to one whole lemon...depending on how lemony you like things.

4. Mix and bake as directed.

When they were cooled I glazed them with this Lemon Yogurt Glaze recipe. 

Why can't anything I bake look this pretty?

The cupcakes were not as light and fluffy as traditional cupcakes are...they were more like pound cake. But they were definitely husband approved. And for an essentially fat free & cholesterol free cupcake...I was willing to sacrifice a little fluff in order to indulge guilt free!

Flip Flop Party Favors

Moving right along with birthdays...our niece Alexa is hosting her 6th birthday party this weekend! She chose to have a "flip flop" themed party. First of all, how cute is that? I love it. Her mama recruited me to make some party favors for the lucky little girls attending.

I started with Old Navy flip flops in pink & purple. A steal at $2.50 per pair.

I made the bows out of ribbon...a purple or pink polka dot bow and a "flip flop" printed ribbon bow on top. 

The entire bow is held together with a thin ribbon tied through a button. And a bit of hot glue for reinforcement.

I glued the bows onto the flip flops with GOOP, and held them down with clips during drying. They seemed to be pretty firmly attached when they were dry.

We'll see how well they hold up to a group of dancing, twirling, partying 6 year olds!

Personalized Beach Gear

Our niece Ally turned 10 a few weeks ago. Her family lives in Clemson, South Carolina, and if you know anything about this town...they bleed orange and purple! Ally's on the town's swim team, so I made her a quick birthday present of a few swim "accessories" to use after swim practice, or on one of their many trips to the lake.

The purple terry cloth cover up I picked up at Target, and added an "A" for Ally to the front...

and the iconic Clemson tiger paw to the back.

I used an orange washcloth to make both appliqués. Any old fabric would work, but I liked the idea of keeping this beach/swim dress consistently terry cloth.

I also picked up this orange & white striped beach towel (for $6.99!) again, from Target, which I monogrammed with Ally's initials.

The letters are just an applique I cut out of regular quilters cotton. I did changed my stitch setting so that the zig zag stitches were super close together...both because I hoped it would help against fraying and I liked the border that it created. I also treated the edges with fray check. Not sure if that will help or not, but towels get a lot of heavy use, so I figured it couldn't hurt.

With my various projects the last few years for Ally & her family, I'm getting pretty good at these tiger paws...maybe I need to set up shop in Clemson?!

This project was so quick & easy, everyone should make some swim or beach gear for your favorite team! 

A fun way to root for the home team while soaking up the sun.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the beautiful mothers in my life!

My Mom, Grandma and I on my wedding day.

 I am so blessed to have so many wonderful mothers in my life. My sister, grandma, sister-in-laws, mom-in-law, girlfriends, and of course, my own mom. And this quote so very much sums up my selfless mother...

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."

Tenneva Jordan

Mom...keep that pie for yourself today! You so deserve it. :)

DIY Maternity Dress at "Be Sweet."

I do exist! G and I have had a fair share of visitors in the last few weeks, so I have been busy planning, cooking, cleaning, and playing tour guide. So the blog has been on the back burner for the last few weeks.

BUT I'm SO happy to be back at it, with a guest post over at Be Sweet!! Be Sweet is an adorable blog written by one of my best friends Amanda. Her creativity is pure genius. 

She is hosting a week just for Mom's this week in honor of Mother's Day, and my post is a DIY maternity dress for all the moms-to-be out there...because we're technically mother's too. :)

So head on over to Be Sweet and I'll show you how to make an easy peasy maternity dress for $5!!

Baby Bow Factory

Yesterday I took my bff Amanda on her maiden voyage to Hobby Lobby, where we found these perfect little baby hats. I have been searching everywhere for these! It was like Hallelujah started playing over my head!

 And I pulled some of these crocheted headbands out of my stash...

And with a few spools of ribbon and a couple silk flowers...

We ended up with these...

A sweet lavender daisy...and a pretty pink peony...Mama's favorite flower.

Big, bouncy, colorful bows...

And a special camo bow...just for her Army serving daddy.

They attach to the headbands and hats with alligator clips...so they are totally interchangeable! {Kudos to Amanda for this ingenious tip!!}

I think a baby with a big old bow on her head is just irresistible.

Good thing this baby girl has one for every day of the week now. :)

Pardon the Interuption

If I'm a little MIA this week, it's because I'm very busy and important. No, no, I'm only kidding! But really, one of my bff's is in town visiting for the week!!! There's nothing like having a great friend around to chat & be yourself with.

{Is it sad that the last picture of us together was from her Bachelorette party over 3 years ago?! Maybe we need to add picture taking to our itinerary this week!}

 Yay for girl time, shopping, and yes, of course...crafting! More on the crafting later. :)

Nursery Inspiration

Hey all. We are having some crazy thunderstorms here in PA and I'm spending my Saturday night toasty and dry on the couch, searching for baby girl nursery inspiration. I thought I'd share what I'm currently swooning over for Baby G's nursery...

I'm in love with all this lavender...

And I love the stenciling on the wall here...I just might have to try this.

kids design by los angeles interior designer Little Crown Interiors

I love the preppy argyle wall, and the cornice boxes paired with sweet bubble window treatments here... 

spaces design

I love this idea...framing fabric for a simple, easy and inexpensive solution for wall decor.

Source: spearmintbaby.com via Lynn on Pinterest

And not a true nursery, but how darling is this room?

traditional kids design by other metros media and blogs Centsational Girl

And what baby girl doesn't need a chandelier in her room?!

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Danielle on Pinterest

Thanks for sharing in this adorable cuteness with me! 

Now I'm off to convince my husband that a chandelier is completely practical and necessary for a newborn. :)