Tutorial Tuesday: Extender slip

So I bought this dress online.
I love it, but it was just a little bit shorter
than I wanted it to be.

My cousin told me about an Extender slip that I could buy from Shade.
I went to the mall to check them out,
but they no longer carry them.

I like lots of the styles over at Vintage Hem,
but they didn't have exactly what I was looking for.
So I decided to try to make it myself.
(This is not the greatest tutorial,
but hopefully you'll at least get the idea!)

I started with this $5 slip from Walmart:

And $2 worth of black fabric.

I made 2 tubes of fabric, one for the front and one for the back.
They were about 1 1/2 times the width of the bottom of the slip.
I just sewed three sides, turned it right side out, and sewed up the last side:

I also needed to add a panel to the slit in the slip:

The hardest step was gathering the fabric before attaching it to the slip.
I did a basting stitch, and then held onto one end while gathering the fabric evenly
across the entire rectangle until it was just barely wider than the base of the slip:

I pinned the gathered tubes to the bottom of the slip,
and then sewed them all together.
And yes, I did sew the black rectangles together as well.

What do you think of the finished product?

It works exactly the way I was hoping it would!
Don't you love it when that happens?!

Flickr Friday: Merry Christmas!!

From my little corner of the world to yours...

via here

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Tutorial Tuesday

So are all of you ready for Christmas?
This has been a marathon week,
but I think I'm almost finished.

Gift cards were a quick and easy gift
for many people on my list this year.
But I don't love the typical presentation.
I sent a few gift cards inside greeting cards,
but I really wanted a small box for them--
to make them look like an actual gift.

So I did a little browsing...

I am loving this gift card box from Heather Bailey!

You can download a pdf of the pattern for free right here!


And a couple other tutorials for small boxes worth checking out:

This gorgeous box will fit some handmade greeting cards
(a great last-minute gift!)

And try this tutorial to recycle some of those old Christmas cards.
This little box is perfect for candy, jewelry,
or other small trinkets,
though it was too small to fit a typical sized gift card.
(I used someone's suggestion to
cut 1/4" off of the end of the bottom piece
to make sure the lid was slightly larger for a better fit,
and that worked great.)

PS My shop will be closed from December 25th - January 4th so if you need something by the beginning of January be sure to order this week.
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Tutorial Tuesday: Placemat Purse!

So yes, I'm super late posting this.
In fact it probably won't even be Tuesday by the time it is up.
But today has been a working day, I've been getting all of your holiday orders out.
It has been keeping me crazy busy!
But hopefully you will all get your orders in time for Christmas.

OK, onto today's tutorial.
This one is courtesy of Executive Homemaker.
I love this idea because it's quick, easy, and still super cute.

You just have to find the perfect placemat
and in no time at all you have an adorable purse or bag!
The tutorial can be found right here.

Flickr Friday

Are you all familiar with Flickr?
I love their tagline, "Share your photos, watch the world."
People from all over the world upload photos on flickr, for everyone to see.
And there are some amazing photos!

Today I'm enjoying some views like this
near Park City, Utah:

via here

I've been working like crazy on holiday orders
and just needed a little break.
But I promise I'll be back to work first thing on Monday
(as long as we don't get snowed in, lol).

Do you have a flickr photo to share?
Leave a comment with the link to your photo or post!

P.S. We're now well past the deadline for Christmas delivery from my shop.
Gift certificates are still a great option! I can email you a pdf file of your gift certificate so you can print it out and give it without much advance planning at all.
Regular orders placed after today will most likely not arrive in time for Christmas.
Thanks so much for all of your orders!

Holiday Planner

So...
are you all ready for Christmas?
I am definitely not!

I'll be doing some major shopping this weekend.
But I still have a lot I need to do before I will really feel ready.

I think I may need to make one of these holiday planners!

Don't they look great?! They're super cute, and will keep you organized and ready for the holidays too.
You can find instructions right here.

Tutorial Tuesday: Holiday skirts

Oh my goodness, I LOVE this idea!!!
I like the way you do has a tutorial up on how to convert
a holiday dishtowel into a little girl's twirly skirt.
Genius!
You can find the tutorial right here.

P.S. We've now passed the deadline for Christmas delivery from my shop. While I can't absolutely guarantee that your order will arrive before Christmas, there's still a good chance right now that it will arrive in time, as long as the post office doesn't fall behind.

If you wait until next week it's likely that your order will NOT make it in time for Christmas.

Flickr Friday

Are you all familiar with Flickr?
I love their tagline, "Share your photos, watch the world."
People from all over the world upload photos on flickr, for everyone to see.
And there are some amazing photos!

Tonight we visited
a living nativity.
The show was wonderful,
and really put me
in the Christmas spirit.

But I think my kids' favorite part
was after the show.
We were able to go outside
and see live animals.
A llama got loose
and was running all over the place.
The kids thought it was hilarious.

They were able to catch it
fairly quickly,
but it really added
to the excitement of the night!

via here

Do you have a flickr photo to share?
Leave a comment with the link to your photo or post!

P.S. We've now passed the deadline for Christmas delivery from my shop. While I can't absolutely guarantee that your order will arrive before Christmas, there's still a great chance right now that it will arrive in plenty of time.

Tutorial Tuesday: Advent Calendar

The countdown to Christmas has started!

Have you all seen the advent calendars
that use a (mini) muffin tin?
Last year my kids and I made this one from a kit
that we bought on etsy:

This year we decided to make one for Grandma,
so we made this from scrapbook paper
mounted on cardstock:

We used some ribbon, stickers, buttons,
and little things that I found last year
in the Dollar Spot at Target.

At first I thought I'd be thrifty
and use one of the thin magnets
that come on the front of the phonebook.
It wasn't strong enough.
So I ended up buying a magnet roll
that was self-adhesive
from the kids' craft section at Walmart.
It worked perfectly
with just a small square in each corner.


Want a detailed tutorial
on how to make these?

Try this one from Somewhat Simple
on how to make an advent like this:

Super cute!

I also really love this one from Blue Cricket Design:

And this one is perfect if you don't have a lot of room!

Need ideas for your advent?
Here's some activities from our ours:
Put up Christmas decorations
Read a Christmas story
Go for a drive to look at the Christmas lights
Send out Christmas cards
Write letters to Santa
Cut out snowflakes
Make gingerbread houses
Listen to Christmas music on the radio
Sing a Christmas song
Take treats to the neighbors
Go Christmas caroling
Play a boardgame
Go for a walk and enjoy the lights in the neighborhood
Have some hot chocolate
Bake Christmas cookies
Watch a Christmas movie together
Read about the birth of Christ in the Bible


*We also have several days with treats
in our advent.
Those mini muffin cups are tiny though,
so things like skittles or m&ms worked best for us.
(Just make sure it's clean before you add the candy.)

Hope you all have fun counting down!