Turn jeans into a toddler skirt!

David always wears out his expensive Lucky jeans...so I have some nice stylish denim in my stash pretty much all the time!  While folding up the latest pair, I had the thought to measure the bottom thinking LJ's little booty would fit, and I was right!
This is a simple project if your hubby's old jeans are wide enough to fit.  If not, I wrote in modified directions!

Step One:  Cut off pant leg to length you want plus 2 inches. (if not wide enough, cut 2 pant legs and piece together to be wide enough.)

Step Two:  Determine how many inches need to be taken in at waist.  The band is flat in front with wide elastic in the back, so cut elastic to the length needed minus 1.5 inches.

Step Three: Zigzag raw edge, then fold over one inch and sew down.  Leave an opening on either side for threading and sewing down elastic in the back.

Step Four:  Sew down well one end of elastic, then thread it through and sew down other end.

Step Five:  Sew down openings.

Step Six: Embellish!  I added a wide decorative stitch on the front waistband, then did three different ones around the bottom hem.

adorable tee is from H&M, shoes by Keen

put the worn part in the back, added character!

Cute, comfy Yoga-Waist PJ Pants!

My 4 month old and I are heading up to my cousin's house tomorrow for a slumber party!  I haven't been to one in ages (does playing Scrabble in bed with my hubby count?) so I am excited for a fun girls night!
While packing, I discovered that I no longer own cute PJs.  In college, I had a million presentable pajama pants and tops, but now its either ratty camis and undies or silky things that are for the husband only.  Plus, with this postpartum weight hanging around no one wants to see that, trust me!!!
So, I treated myself to some rare "sewing for me" time while LJ napped and whipped up these cute yoga-waist PJ pants.  They are so comfy, and so "me!"

To make some, you will need:
-A couple yards of cotton fabric
-about 1/4 yard rib knit
-a pair of pants whose fit you like (to use as a pattern)
-sewing supplies (thread, scissors, etc.)
-optional "flair" (mine is vintage lace I found at a local shop)

Step One-
Fold pants in half lengthwise.  With the longest seam on the fold, trace the shape of the other side onto your fabric.  Add in some room for a seam!  If you want them longer/shorter do that here.  DON'T add in the waistband- we will make that out of the ribbed knit.

Step Two- Cut out two of the pant leg shapes you traced above.

Step Three- Sew the leg seam.

Step Four- Turn one pant leg inside out, and place the other leg inside.  Line up the crotch seams and sew.

Step Five- Try them on to check the fit so far!

Step Six- Take the rib knit, and cut a long piece (the lines should go up and down).  This piece should fit around your waist (or hips, wherever you want it to hit) while stretched a little.

Step Seven- Sew the rib knot together end to end to make a tube.

Step Eight- Fold the tube over and zig-zag or serge around the bottom seam.

Step Nine- Pin the rib part to your pants.  The rib should be smaller, so you will have to pin carefully then stretch as you sew.

Step Ten- Sew the waistband to the pants.

Step Eleven- Hem the pants to the length desired.

I have been saving this trim, and this was the perfect project for it!  All different!

Step Twelve- Add any trim, and you're done!!!

Yay, cute PJ pants!

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Quicky "fancy" Water

Are you, like me, bad about drinking enough water?  I never seem to drink enough for the hot weather and breastfeeding.  Of course, I can down iced coffee, diet coke, lemonade, or beer like it's going out of style.  In an attempt to make water more "drinkable" I have been adding flavor- all without caffeine or sugars.  And it takes, like, one minute!

For the drink pictured above, I used my fave "venti" cup leftover from an iced coffee.  But really I should be using a fancy glass or stainless bottle to avoid plastics, but it won't hurt me on occasion!

For all recipes, place ice in cup, place ingredients on top, then fill with water!  The longer you let it sit, the more flavors will be in it.  I make it fresh each day or the stuff in there can get yucky!

Recipe One-
frozen berries, two mint leaves

Recipe Two-
3-4 cucumber slices, two mint leaves (cucumber is also great plain)

Recipe Three-
Lemon wedge (squeezed) and raspberries

Recipe Four-
2-3 strawberries (muddled), 2 basil leaves

Recipe Five-
Lime wedge (squeezed), sprig of cilantro

Recipe Six-
frozen berries, sprig of rosemary

Recipe Seven-
Lemon wedge (squeezed), and edible lavender

Recipe Eight-
Edible rose petals (these are so good alone!)


Try them out and hopefully it will get you drinking more water!!!
Share your ideas for more recipes below!

I've been busy!

Whew!  Hosted a Bridal Shower last weekend, made 3 pillowcase dresses, a kid maxi dress, and some new shorts for LJ.  We also got in plenty of play time!
No pics of the bridal shower, because my husband grabbed the camera to take to the zoo during the shower...grrr!
The kid maxi dress turned out cute, hopefully the recipient's mama will get a picture of her in it for me!

kid maxi

two overlapped triangles for the bodice, plus a fun flower pin!

Love the sprinkler!!!

someone learned to suck her thumb...

I made LJ some cute Bermuda shorts using my fave free pattern- the Kid Pants pattern from MADE.  I simply folded up the leg part of the pattern to make them bermuda length.  I did the flat front option too.

pretty stitch and button to add personality...

She said "these pants are cozy, mama!  i gonna pee in 'em!"  Not the purpose I had in mind, but she is potty learning age so probably just being honest!

buttons on each leg hem too!

She knows if she poses for me she gets a reward- this time some swing time.  She likes me to do "Underdog" haha!

So that is just some of what I've been up to!!!  I would love to find the time to do a detailed tute/pattern for the maxi dress.  Hopefully that will happen!!!
Have a great Father's Day weekend!

Quaker Soft Baked Bars

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Quaker Oats for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Quaker Soft Baked Bars are the newest item available for your breakfast or snack!  The two flavors are Cinnamon Pecan Bread (oh, my!) and Banana Nut Bread.  Sounds like comfort food, right?  However- they come in at only 140 calories, so you can enjoy one guilt free.

Who wouldn't want wholesome food that comes in a yummy form like this? Five grams of fiber, 6 grams of protien, and 5 B vitamins make this an excellent snack for kids, or a great pre or post workout snack!

I personally can't wait to try the Cinnamon Pecan Bread flavor- it looks sooooo good!  I would love to have a few on hand for those times when I want something naughty but want to meet my goals for losing my baby weight.  It is important that I have healthy snack items ready to go at all times so I'm not tempted to "cheat" and ruin my efforts for the day.  Baked goods are one of my weaknesses, so this will be a delicious way to satisfy my need for something soft and cinnamon-y!

For breakfast, you can enjoy it as-is, or heat it up to make it taste like you just baked it that morning!  breakfast snack

Quaker is a company I trust because I have been eating their products my whole life.  My Mom and Grandma have always had that iconic container in the pantry too!  This soft-baked bar is definitely worth a try if you, like me, have always enjoyed your Quaker!  Be sure to let me know if you try this and which flavor is your favorite!wholesome foodwholesome food

Roadtrip-a-Matic!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PA Tourism for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

David is a HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so we have always talked about taking a trip to Pennsylvania to catch a game and explore the city.  When I heard about the pa-roadtrips at VisitPA.com, I had to check it out! 

The Roadtrip-a-Matic helps you plan your trip to PA by interest.  They have routes for art lovers, shopping addicts, hiking enthusiasts, even photographers!  I checked out the kids ones in "Kidsylvania" as they call it.  They have a road trip called "Swing on through the Steel City" that would be perfect for our family.  Its a 3 day, 2 night trip that includes attractions like the Children's Museum, Zoo, and aquarium, and the Duquesne Incline.  The nice thing about these road trips is they not only include the attractions, they also let you know where to eat, where to stay, and other information you will need.  So the planning work is done for you- all you need to do is gas up the van and go! 

Or perhaps Daddy and I will gas up the car and leave the kids and van with Grandma and Grandpa and do one of their "Fairway Drive" golf trips?  I love my young kiddos but part of me can't wait until they are old enough that we can do little getaways together more often!

roadtrips

I think Pennsylvania is on to something with this idea.  Maybe other states should take note!  If you are trying to plan a road trip this summer, you should definitely check out the Roadtrip-a-Matic and see what Pennsylvania has to offer- I'll admit I was surprised by all the fun things they have to do there!

The Green Goddess necklace (inspired by Shabby Apple)

A while back I pinned this Shabby Apple necklace on Pinterest because I just LOVE it!  (By the way, do you follow me on Pinterest?)  As you can see, it is $98.  That is a little high for a "fun" necklace for me!  So, I decided to use it as inspiration for my own necklace!  I named it after a summer favorite of mine- homemade Green Goddess salad dressing, no joke.  But it has green on it, so at least it applies!!!

 

I took a trip to JoAnns first to look for the most affordable beads.  I was able to find both pink beads (jade and quartz), and I already had the brown seed bead spacers and crimping beads.  Score!  I also found silver plated toggle clasps and a nice weight of "tiger tail" to string it up on.  All on sale at 40% off!!!

the  awesome faceted green beads I found!

Supplies needed (links where I had them):

Small pink beads

Larger pink beads

Green faceted stone beads (I bought mine from a local bead shop)

larger size brown Seed beads (used as spacers)

Clasp

tiger tail
crimping beads
jewelry pliers

Silver plated toggle clasp.

The green beads were the most expensive part, at $2.50 per bead.  However, since I had some of the supplies on-hand and got the rest on sale, this necklace cost me about $35 to make myself (with leftover beads and supplies to use next time)!  Much better than $98, plus I LOVE my green beads and prefer my necklace to the Shabby Apple one.  So its a win all around!

How to make:

1. Determine how long you want your necklace.  Lay out your beads in the order you want them (you may want more tiny and less big pink ones, etc.)  String up the longer chain first, that way if you need to adjust the shorter one to fit inside you can.
2. On the ends, thread the two tiger tails through a crimping bead then the clasp part for that end.  Fold over the end of the tiger tails around the clasp, then thread carefully back through the crimper and crimp!
3. Repeat for the other side.
4. Trim your tiger tails and thread any remaining parts through the beads to hide.
5. Wear your necklace, and humbly accept compliments "Oh this?  I happened to have made it."

Yes, that is actually me this morning and that is actually my face with NO make-up.  Keepin' it real at ToBeContinued :)

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tute!  Please become a follower to join in on all the fun we have here, haha!