Little Re-fashion

I've been on some different blogs lately that give a lot of ideas on how to re-fashion old clothes. It's certainly not a new concept - I've seen a lovely dress from the 1840s made in cloth form the 1700s, and heard stories of how ladies would move the stained side of their skirt to one side, so that it would be hidden as they walked arm in arm with their husband. My own Grandpa Bud's mother got through the Great Depression by getting cast off suits from wealthier folks, and cutting the high quality wool down into suits for her little boys. Everyone wondered how she could afford such "expensive" clothing!

I've done a bit of refashioning myself (re-hemming a skirt or making jeans into "talls" capris) but I've certainly been inspired to take things a bit farther, so here is one of my first efforts. One stained tee shirt + 1/2 yard of cute fabric = the Girly at Heart dress!

This was SUCH a fun project! Total cost was $1.75 plus one evening's work. Not bad compared to brand name play dresses which run $30 and up! I think next time I should be able to do it in under 30 minutes, depending on how I decorate the shirt.

The ruffled heart was SO easy with the serger, although you could do the same thing by sewing a long tube of fabric.

Alaina wore it the day after I made it, and we had to get some pictures!

It's such a cute, fun and easy idea, I had to share!

It's the most picnic-y time of the year!

Two picnics in one month! Yes, we are definitely excited about spring this year.

Of course, having a lovely park very near by doesn't hurt in the least!

With Kyle working it town, it made it easy to capture him for a special lunch. We checked out the slides, which Alaina is big enough this year to really get into.

Oh, that was fun! The joys of up and down.

I'm getting more Motherish looking nowadays. Behold the boy bump!

Enjoying our spontaneity. Sometimes simple pleasures are the best, don't you think?

Company fun!

I got a call a few weeks back from my friend Sandy W. She said she had a few days off coming up, and was wondering, would we like some company?

Would we!

We had a splendid time (as usual)! One day we met Kyle for a picnic lunch.

It was 85 degrees! In April! Needless to say, we ate in the shade.

Sorry Sandy, our camera has blurry spots. :-}

Girls in green. We saw all sorts of flowers - violets, phlox, trillium (?) and lots of little white wild blossoms.

Sneak peek of summer.

Sandy is known for three things - fun food, fun games and fun crafts (I suppose we could just condense that to "fun"). What did she bring this time?

Quilling supplies!

Haley has made me some lovely quilled things before, but I had never done it myself. It was so easy and fun, and perfect for us non-artistic types.

We also decided to make Smore Sundaes. All we needed was the marshmallow sauce. So we decided to make our own.

What have we done???

Yes, we did use a recipe. No, we didn't have a double boiler.

It was a bit of an adventure to eat, but SO good. I'll be making it again - with marshmallow sauce from the store! Thanks so much for spending your days off with us Sandy! It was such a treat!

The Gardeners

With all our spring warmth, Kyle has been planting away in the garden. This year, he has a little helper for company.

Alaina loves to be outside in the sun and the breeze with Daddy!

Putting straw in with the potatoes. Ooo, it's prickly!

Isn't spring a lovely time of year?

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Hello! Long time no post! We were pretty busy over Easter doing fun things. We mostly took videos, so there's not much to show on here, but we got to see all of my Grandparents, had an egg "hunt" with my littlest cousins Leslie and Sidney, and dyed some eggs with Alaina. Such a good time!

We did get a couple of pictures with Miss Jaimie, who was kind enough to show Alaina all of her baby dolls after church. Alaina was thrilled! She's fascinated with babies at the moment.

Thank you Jaimie!

Probably another reason we mostly did video is that somebody is starting to walk! She is still not convinced that it's the best way to get around, but all that practice with Uncle Nate is definitely having an effect.

We had fun with all the fluff that has gotten attached to Easter in our culture, but really, the historical fact that Jesus is alive makes all the difference in the world!
Grateful to serve a risen Savior - GJ