All About The Mickey

Well, we've been back from our Disney World vacation for about two weeks now, so I guess you've waited long enough to see what has been keeping me so silent here on my blog! Sorry it has taken me this long to update, but since we've been back I've had to clean, do LOTS of laundry, sell Girl Scout cookies then settle up our accounts and deposit LOADS of money...unfortunately NOT into my bank, HA! and take care of not one BUT two sick kiddos with upper respiratory infections...YUCK!! Everyone is on the mend, I am back to my regular laundry routine, and the final Girl Scout cookies have been sold and settled...so get ready for an EXTREMELY photo heavy post!!! :)

Animal Kingdom:


Everyone got a tiger Mickey including my Momma and two nephews! The lone cheetah Mickey belongs to....GUESS!!!


Ms. Priss was the cheetah in our group, but she had a sweet cousin helping her flaunt the cheetah, girl!! :) All of these were cut on my Cricut Expression then sewn on with my sewing machine! The Middle Child was the only "Minnie" with her purple bow and I was able to get another use out of the tiger/LSU ruffled pants I made last fall!! YAY!!

Speaking of LSU...



I promised my brother a shirt, and Ms. Priss liked it so much she had to have one too!

Couldn't leave out the Saints...


This was a machine applique I designed with my embroidery software by merging about three different designs!! LOVE IT!! I am telling you that there were soooooo many Louisiana families at Disney World. We felt right at home in our LSU and Saints apparel!! This shirt was done for my 9 yo nephew, he was so excited....well as excited as a 9 yo boy can get and still look cool!! ;)


The Middle Child had an outfit for ALL EIGHT DAYS of our trip!! WHEW! But thankfully I was able to use ruffled pants that were already made, and I found a couple of bargains in the clearance bins that just needed to be appliqued or embellished!


The yellow polka-dot pants were $2 at Walmart.


This T-shirt was a size too small which made it very short at her tummy. So I added the polka dot ruffle and viola!! I LOVE the multiple Mickeys!! The gingham ruffled pants were part of her Halloween costume, so they were already done!! Oh, did I mention that I will be adding "action" shots? I ran out of time trying to finish outfits and didn't take pictures before I packed them...so there will be LOTS of action shots to display some of the sewing I did!


Ms. Priss is soooo hard to make pants/shorts for. She has such an odd body type that it gave me FITS trying to get the pants to fit her backside withOUT having too much "crotch" hanging down in the front. Any and ALL suggestions are WELCOME!!! I ended up doing lots of creative cutting and folding/sewing around the waist where the casing for the elastic was!!

The Boy's shirt is just the left over fabric from a Mickey cut out!! I used my machine to sew around the outside square, but the Mickey silhouette was too hard so I ended up using some chunky red embroidery thread and did a running stitch. It is hard to see in this picture, but I really liked the effect!

Oh, and I must tell you that the Autograph Books I made all of the kids were a HIT!! They got loads of compliments from all of the characters that talked, and a couple of thumbs up from the ones that didn't!! And I am happy to report that they all used their backpacks during the whole trip!! YAY!

We had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table where The Middle Child wore her Cinderella dress that her Grammy and Poppie gave her for Christmas. So I coordinated every one's outfit around her Princess dress. This is for Ms. Priss.

This is a machine embroidery applique. I used clear vinyl to give it the "glass" effect for the slipper, and it's hard to see but it says, "if the shoe fits..." HA!

For The Boy...

The pants I made last Spring, so the shirt was all that was needed. Even Mom and Dad got in on it!

My husband had a TON of shirts from the last company he worked for that were just sitting in a bag in our closet. I used a lot of creative Mickey's to cover the company logo!!

Epcot:

The tie-dyed shirt was $1 at Walmart!!

The Earth Mickey is a combination of machine appliqued circles for the ears, and a Filled stitch machine embroidery design. I did one for my husband too...sorry no photo!

Here are two outfits of The Middle Child's that were $2 a piece from Walmart last Fall.

The tees were screen-printed with a peace and apple design that I covered with Minnie's. You can see the screen print through the green Minnie a little bit.

But it was still a cute outfit!!

Happy (belated) Mardi Gras!!!

For the boys...two of these were for my nephews, the other was for The Boy.

I am sorry to say that I didn't get a good "action" picture of my girls' Mickey's. I could probably do one now, but I haven't had the time!! Maybe it will pop up in my slide show! HA! The yellow fabric in Ms. Priss' pants is denim!! I LOVE it! I found it in the clearance bin at Joann's for $2!! I had enough to do these capri's, and the ruffled shorts that went with the tie-dyed peace Mickey!! SCORE!!

Me and The Husband!! Another "creative" way to cover that old company logo!! My shirt is a tissue tee aka REALLY THIN SHIRT!! So I had to use a BIG Fleur de Lis and a couple of Mickey's to keep myself "covered"!! ;) I really liked the effect!

And last but not least...we couldn't leave the Dinosaur shirt at home...

This was originally a Santa Hat Dino that I cut the Santa Hat off and added a New Year's Eve Party hat then cut that off to give the little fella some Mickey ears!! What will he wear next?? Stay tuned...

WHEW!! that was a very long post with TOO MANY pictures!! Thank you for your time! :) So when all was cut and sewn I ended up doing 38 shirts, and 11 pairs of ruffled pants...and because I am such a procrastinator it was all done in a 2 week time period!! I've got to start earlier next time!!! :) Enjoy your day...Spring is here and we are having GORGEOUS weather! Next up, sewing for Easter!! Until later...

Love...the Crafty Way!

Just some eye "candy" for you today!! :) Now you know why I've been so busy...still working on things for Disney World, and Mardi Gras is right around the corner!



Love Banner...burlap and vinyl table cloth letters!

These were my Contact Paper crafts featured at crafytammie...

Some hand stitched hearts...

LOVEly hair accessories...

Heart Yo-yo tutorial...here!!

Petti-Tutu tutorial at my local girl's AWESOME blog...Wildflowers & Whimsy...Thanks April!!

Hand stitched Owl applique from the AMAZING Kimara and Michelle over at Wee Folk Art! Thanks as always ladies!! :)

And some Valentines (plus about 20 others NOT pictured) for my girls' classes!

Well, that about wraps up my Valentines for this year!! I had so much fun perusing the bloggy world looking at all of the great tutorials and projects for this year!! Can't wait for next year!

Happy Valentine's Day!! Until later...

Orders and Gifts

Hi there!! Sorry it's been so long!! I've been busy getting things ready for our Disney World trip, working on Valentine's decorations, filling a few orders, and making gifts!! I was also asked by my sweet Bloggy friend Tammie to do a guest post on her blog, craftytammie!! She is having a LOVEfest of sorts. So take some time this week to check out all of the great things her guest posters are sharing!! And enter a few AWESOME giveaways while you are there! She really is sweet to include me, but with my novice tutorial skills I am not sure I will be very informative...entertaining, maybe!! :) So I chose a quick and easy non-sewing how-to! Wanna know how I made this?

Be sure to check out her blog!! :)

Ok, so on with the sewing stuff! I am hoping this is the last of THESE!!

Three pair of ruffled Minky pants....DONE! My serger is weeping with joy!

My BFFs daughter had a birthday in December. So to ease my sewing load for that month, I just picked up a few things and monogrammed them!

I got the cutest purple yoga pants to go with this fleece pull-over. Teeny-tiny toddler yoga pants?? ADORABLE!! She also got some cute footie jammies...LOVE THESE!!

I am enjoying the simpler gift-giving!! But I also like a little handmade quickie. The birthday girl got a new cousin around her birthday. She was going to see him in the hospital, so I made this little binky holder for her to bring him.

This is just a satin ribbon with a snap and clip attached. She picked out the color for his name...it is hard to see, but sometimes it is better to be subtle! ;)

Next was my nephew's bday. His request....Saints pool cover-up.

This tutorial is ALWAYS good to have!! I would have used different bias tape if I would have had more time...oh well, next time!! :) This pattern will probably fit him for a couple of years, but it still won't stop him from asking for a different one!! And of course ANY ONE going to Disney World with me will be getting SOMEthing with mouse ears...

Well, that was short and sweet, huh? I have LOADS more to post, but will do it closer to Valentine's Day since that is what has been monopolizing my time lately! I know that I have LOTS to catch up on with my sweeties...sorry, I am getting to you! We had an ice storm of sorts last week...not too bad, but they closed the schools Thursday and Friday "just in case". I know alot of you are getting MUCH WORSE weather, so hang in there...Spring is coming....right?? On top of that, our heat is out downstairs...where my sewing room is! Kinda hard to sew when you are tr-tr-trembling!! :) I've been hibernating upstairs as much as I can. Hopefully the part for the furnace will be in this week..but then we will be in the 70s and won't need it anymore...GAH!! So stay warm and have a good week!! Until later...

This Doll has EVERYTHING!!

Ok...not YET!! :) I've been busy trying to save money by NOT buying American Girl outfits! So far, it seems to be working since Ms. Priss gets excited every time I make something new for Jasmine...yep, that is her AG Doll's name! Here are a few things keeping me busy...

This was the first thing I made. It is just an easy coat and beret made from a few scraps of fleece. I wasn't sure if I would be able to sew such small seams, so I didn't want anything too complicated. Can't get any easier than fleece. Having no hems or edges to finish makes it less scary and it went super quick!! The pattern was from some free American Girl patterns I found and downloaded. The coat is Molly's raincoat.

Ms. Priss was so excited to have something new! Some of her BFFs wanted to get in on the "momma-made" trend!

Some super quick jersey nighties.

These nighties were made with one of the slip patterns. Cut up tee shirt for some "free" fabric, and add appliques from even more scrap pieces...instant goodness!

Some undies. Now, the pattern told me to do a stretch zigzag stitch along all of the edges...not liking that at all. Is it really needed for stretch jersey? I used a 75/11 stretch needle, but it still seemed to "eat" my fabric...what happened?? PLEASE make some suggestions oh wiser friends of mine!! :)

This one is Ms. Priss' favorite!

She is currently going through a cheetah faze! I used a McCall's pattern for this outfit. I got them while they were 99 cents at JoAnn's. Now if I can just replicate that charm!! HA!! I am currently working on a pair of corduroy boots, I am hand-stitching them because WOW do they have some itty bitty pieces!! And, oh...I did a matching cheetah bag too, but it didn't make it into the picture for some reason!

Yesterday, while Ms. Priss was "busy" on her Nintendo DS, the Middle Child and I made Jasmine a wardrobe to hold all of her new clothes.

This was made from a diaper box, contact paper, scrapbook paper, and a chopstick!! The Awesome Man said he would make a "real" one out of wood soon!! YAY!! My woodworker is back in business now that Football Season is OVER!! Ok, not yet but when the Saints lost...so did his interest in the NFL. YAY!! I mean, not for the Saint losing :( but for having my DIY hubby back!! Anyway, it was pretty simple, just cutting and sticking. We made some "hangers" using chenille stems, that idea could be re-worked since the clothes are a little bigger than one stem so maybe I'll try one and a half!

Well, lots of other things going on...just don't want to overload you on photos! I'll try and post more sooner! The MAIN reason I have been soooo busy is THIS guy:

Meet Houston. This was my Husband's Christmas present. Since this picture was taken, he has probably doubled in size!! Could be all of the SHOES he is eating!! UGH!! I have to be very adamant about PICKING THINGS UP!! And with three children, FIVE if you are counting the two GROWN boys...which I do since I am PICKING up after them too (?!), I have to make sure EVERYTHING is off of the floor or it is fair CHEWING game for this one!! I have my kennel cleaned and READY!! Many of my friends have suggested crate training, which I am WELL aware of because that is what we used for Floyd, but because of Abby (the world's BEST dog) we have gotten spoiled to the ways of a WELL trained dog. But, now that not one, but TWO of my Crocs have been eaten...I am ready!! :) Wish me luck and until later...