Plaid times two

It is KCWC week. Yeeeey!!! I love KCWC, two years ago I started blogging so I could participate in it. It got me back to sewing and for that I will forever be grateful. Apart from that, it is just a crazy exciting week that makes numerous women around the world turn in crazy sewing ladies. As for me, I am one of them too, I sew long into the night and sometimes make the kids try the stuff on before they leave in the morning. Hell, I had my son wear a dress just for the sake of a photo. I got to love upcycling and dropped my fear of knits.
Back when I started sewing I only wanted to do new stuff, buy a fabric, draft a pattern and sew something for my evening out. I never wanted to sew the same thing twice, I thought that was boring. AND, I hated it when my mom asked me to fix something, change a zipper or shorten some pants... and now that is all I do, clothes wise, I mostly fix or refashion stuff, and I love it. To make something from nothing is great, but to repurpose and reuse the same piece of clothing several times gives me butterflies.
My first KCWC project was a sweats upcycle for a skinny 2.5 year old. Now I have a 4.5 year old, whose pants become too short too soon, and I simplycan't make myself just buy new ones and set these aside, too easy:)

So here is out brown plaid pant getting a blue plaid (actually the same one as in that first KCWC project) cuff and some other blue accents to accompany it.

Mustard details off...

and blue on!

I added some blue accent to go with the cuff, took off the buttons and sewed them back on with blue yarn. I even coloured the embroidery with a blue fabric marker.

He's been wearing these since he was 2. When I let down the seem there was so much fabric there that I almost didn't even need a cuff, but it was so much more fun this way:)
What do you think?

My Two things - again

I can't believe it's been a year already! And here it is again, Dr Seuss' birthday is tomorrow! I want to show you a project I did for the boys last year, originally posted on Budapest Moms.

Exactly a year ago today, P & I stood wondering

How did it get so late so soon?
Its night before its afternoon.

We sat there with P

We sat there, we two.
And I said, “How I wish
We had something to do!”
So all we could do was to
Sit!
Sit!

Sit!
Sit!
And we did not like it.
Not one little bit.
And then
Something went BUMP!
How that bump made us jump!
We looked!
Then we saw him step in on the mat!
We looked!
And we saw him!
The Cat in the Hat!

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, more places you’ll go.

So we read…but this was still not the project I needed so badly to do for Dr Seuss Day.


Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if only you try!


I could always print out the Cat in the Hat and stick it to P’s T-Shirt, but I am not too fond of cartoon characters on clothing, or anything else to be honest. I am more for subtly pointing out the obvious.


I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”


And really, my troubles were all gone when The Cat said:

  I will pick up the hook.

 You will see something new.

Two things. And I call them

Thing One and Thing Two.

These Things will not bite you.

They want to have fun.

Then, out of the box

Came Thing Two and Thing One!

Original illustration from The Cat in the Hat

And immediately it hit me. I have two boys. It is late. I need a project, and I need something easy, fast and funny.

From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere.

So after they went to bed, I made these:

I created a template in Picnik  but Picnik is gone now, so you can try using Ipiccy to create printables from scratch. Picnic didn't have that possibility and my background turned a bit greyish, so if you use my downloads be aware of that.

I printed them on iron-on paper. Don’t forget to print it in mirror image, otherwise it will be backwards, which can also be fun sometimes…
After that I only had to iron it on a white T-shirt and a onesie I had for the boys. It is really important to do the ironing on a stable surface, so you can press the iron as hard as you can. The harder you press it, the better the result will be. An ironing board is not the best choice, although I did this on an ironing board yesterday.
And here they are, on Dr. Seuss’s birthday. My Two Things 

Will you try this?

If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.

Rug to pillow

Almost 2 years ago when we moved to our current home, we also made a pallet reading nook for P.  It needed a number of pillows. We were broke, and so was my sewing machine. But there is always Ikea to save the day.
I always loved Ikea Signe rugs, handmade look, 100% cotton and soft colors. And when I realized that with their dimensions of 60x90 cm they are perfect for Ikea pillows 60x40 pillows I couldn't be happier. These rugs cost something like 3 dollars each, and you just need to fold them in half and you have yourself a new pillowcase for your reading nook.

I wanted to keep that handmade look (and I had no sewing machine, remember?) so I sewed it up using embroidery thread and blanket stitch, different colors on each side.

 When I was out of thread I spiced things up:

I used sew in snap buttons on the inside, because I wanted the pillowcases to be removable but I didn't want any buttons to show.

And this is how I got my pretty and oh so comfy pillows.

Like what you see? Follow my I made board on pinterest.If you need an invite, drop me an e-mail.


Linking to: Hope studios

Last minute floorbed

P is in last minute swimming camp since today morning. We weren't home for the weekend, and before we left I had no idea he will be going to the camp. One of the things kids needed to bring with them was a foam pad, for their afternoon nap. Whaaat? How is he supposed to sleep on that? Plus, I don't have one!
What I did have, was a big chunk of 3 cm thick mattress foam my brother wanted to throw away (his new sofa was packaged in it) and I, as a major hoarder of junk stuffed in my storage area.
I also had fabric..I always have fabric.

Oilcloth tablecloth on one side, Ikea Saralisa on the other. Sew 3 sides on the wrong side, turn out the fabric, stuff the foam in neatly, sew one side from the outside, not at all easy at 1 o'clock at night and with foam pulling the whole thing out. But I did it!

Morning testing...
Yes, I made one for his friend too, while I was at it.

Hm, not to happy, is he?:)

DIY Cardboard furniture by foldschool

As a lover of cardboard, recycling and making stuff I also love free patterns and templates, especially if they are as cool as foldschool.

In order to make good design available for everyone, foldschool offers free templates for stool, chair and a rocker designed by Swiss-based architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli.
Products are not available in their completed form, because of their philosophy that says:

'The process of crafting your own piece of furniture is fundamental to the attitude of foldschool. We are considering to offer certain designs as a semi-finished product (perforated, creased but not assembled)'

I have yet to try them out, but apparently the folding of the cardboard makes it very solid and it can carry the weight of an adult without problem. When you've made your little furniture kids can personalize them and do their part in the creative process.

Papercraft Alphabet and other amazing stuff

To stay in paper/cardboard theme, have a look at this amazing Papercraft Alphabet Digidrop created. Each letter 'represents a thing, animal,  people or an activity (like H for a handshake) starting with that letter.

And what is best, all 26 templates are available for free download. This site has some amazing resources for free downloadable paper toys, so make sure to check it out.

My favorites besides the alphabet are finger-animals and Cubicity

 Click on photos for links, and enjoy!

via How About Orange

Surprise, surprise - pallet garden furniture

On Easter Monday, on my way back to Budapest, from Zagreb, I visited my grandma...as I always do. First thing I saw was a decorated tree in from of her house, which was kind of expected.

What I did not expect to see was this:

My 80 years old grandma has pallet furniture in her front yard!!!!!!!!!

 

This cools set was made by my cousin's future hubby Saša, who is (obviously) very creative and handy. You all probably know what pallets look like and how rough they are, but these are so soft and smooth, and oh so wonderful. I can't wait to go to visit for longer, and have my morning coffee there.

And one day maybe I can show you some other amazing things he made.


Update: This project has been featured on: Pallet Furniture Blog 
Linking to: Skip to my Lou

Your kids can make their own bed (linen)

Jump over to Budapest Moms for my weekly post.

A very last-minute DIY B-Day Party

P. is 3!







He turned three yesterday and we had a huge party. It was supposed to be on Saturday but due to certain circumstances we had to move it to the actual date. To cut the long story short, I had half a day yo pull this off.




Number 3 everywhere.

 A huge pizza! 

'Small cakes' as he calls them.

 Something fancy for the grownups, using this recipe for The Naptime Chef.

 

THE Cake

And one very happy little 'BIG BOY'.

Happy B Day Dr Seuss - My Two Things

Read more ovear at Budapest Moms.


Linking to: Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

The cheapest cool lamp, or the coolest cheap lamp EVER

You need:

IKEA EKBY VALTER bracket
IKEA HEMMA cord set
drill. screws, plug connector

And enjoy!

Piece of advice: if you are going to use it above your kids reading nook, use a LED bulb, those don't get hot, if your kid decides he wants to touch it, as mine does.

If you like my nook, you can vote for it by liking this photo here. I WON!



Linking to: Marvelously Messy, Sumo's Sweet Stuff
                 Whipperberry

BRIGITTE-Creative-Blog-Award 2012

Brigitte.de is looking for the most talented DIY enthusiast in the blogosphere!

They are looking for authors of creative blogs who present their own modern DIY ideas and completed projects in a visually appealing way, with well-thought-out instructions written in a coherent manner.

Starting February 2012 the Jury will choose three most inspiring blogs every month and announce them on the 1st of the following month. Nominees will then have two weeks to submit a new DIY idea to be presented on brigitte.de. AT the end of 2012. three winners will be announced.  First prize is a chance to style a major DIY story with the editorial staff for the BRIGITTE print edition.

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