Sesame Street Birthday Party

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My friend has a daughter who turned two ten days before my little girl.  We decided to do a combined birthday party.  It was so fun and our daughters loved every minute of the party.  We did a Sesame Street themed party.  Here are some of the things we had at the party:

Sesame Street Sign

Sugar Cookie Bars

Sugar Cookie Bars

                             1 Cup Butter, room temperature

                             2 Cups Sugar

                             4 Eggs

                             2 tsp. Vanilla

                             5 Cups Flour

                             1 tsp. Salt

                             1/2 tsp. Baking soda

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Mix butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla and mix until well combined.  In a separate bowl add the dry ingredients and stir.  Then slowly add the dry ingredients to your mixer.  Once all of the ingredients are incorporated, spread the dough onto a well greased cookie sheet (I use my hands to spread the dough out since it is so tough).  Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (it won't really be golden brown).  Let the cookies cool and then frost them.

Basic Sugar Cookie Frosting

                             4 Cups Powdered Sugar

                             4 tsp. Vanilla

                             1/2 Cup Butter, softened

                             3-4 tsp. Milk

Peanut M&M's 

They were the perfect little addition for the table since they are Sesame Street colors.

Giant Elmo Balloon
 We bought it on Amazon for $12.  The kids loved it, until it got body slammed by some boys and popped.  I also saw the other day at the Dollar Tree that they have a normal sized Mylar balloon that's Elmo's head.  It's only a dollar!  That's a steal.

Fishing with Dorothy 
The children fished over a sheet and would catch a prize.

Sesame Street Bowling

The kids loved rolling and throwing the ball and the "pins".  

Oscar's Trash Basketball 

Elmo and Big Bird Party Favors

Sesame Street Character Oreo Pops

Cookie Monster Cake
We got this at Smith's for about $15, which was a great deal considering we didn't have to spend the time decorating it ourselves!

Car Seat Cover Tutorial

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I realize there are a lot of tutorials for car seat covers out there, but I decided to make one of my own.  I tried to make it a little more easy to follow than some of the tutorials I've seen.  Let me know if you have any questions!

What you will need:
1 yard of main material
1 yard of contrasting material
Sewable Velcro
Thread
Straight pins
Scissors
Fabric marker
Tape measurer
Straight edge
Plate
Embellishments (buttons, ribbons, etc)

Not necessary, but nice to have:
Rotary mat
Rotary cutter
Rotary ruler
Binding tape

First you'll want to fold your fabric in half and cut it 17" wide and 42" long.  This will leave you with a rectangle that is 34"x 42".  You also need to cut 2 rectangles of each fabric that are 3"x 7 1/2" for your straps.

 Once you have cut both fabrics to the correct size, use a plate to help you round the edges of your rectangles.  I found it best to cut both fabrics at the same time so the corners would match up.  If you have a really sharp rotary cutter, you are able to cut all the corners and both fabrics at the same time.  If you don't have a good rotary cutter, you can use a fabric marker to draw the rounded edge and then cut it with scissors.

 Here's the cut corners.

 Line up fabrics right sides together and sew around the outside using a 1/4" seam.  Make sure to leave a few inches open though so you can flip it right side out.

 Before flipping it right-side-out, cut little notches in the around the corners (careful not to cut your seam) to help your edges to stay nice and round.  

You can finish your edge however you like.  I decided to use binding tape.  Some other options are to just leave it as is, but make sure to iron the seams so they are nice and sharp, you could go around the outside edge with a 1/8" seam, or your could serge around the outside.

With your 3" x 7 1/2" rectangles, sew right sides together.  Once again leaving an opening so you can flip it right-side-out.

 Cut the corners a bit before flipping it so you can have a sharper edge.

 Once it's been flipped right-side-out, iron the seams and then sew a 1/8" seam around the outside - making sure to close up the open area.

 Figure out which fabric you'd like to show on your straps.  I wanted to keep them matching the top fabric and attach velcro accordingly.  

 Fold your cover in half and measure 18" from the top and then 3" over and draw a 2" line.  Do this on both sides.  These lines are where you will sew on your straps.  FYI the 18" side is the back of your cover.

 Here is my line.

 Next take your straps and draw lines at 2 1/2" from the top and from the bottom.

 Here is a little diagram to show you the measurements of those lines.

Line up the line you drew on your strap with the line you previously drew on your cover.  You'll want to line them up so that the part of your strap that you want to be on top will be on the drawn line.  Make sure that the 18 inches is the back part of your cover.  Once you have pinned the straps in place sew a square around those two lines.  Attach your straps to the car seat and you're done!

 Here is the finished product.

I apologize if that was confusing.  Please ask me questions if you have any!

Mini Witch Hat Tutorial

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My daughter is going to be a witch for Halloween, but I couldn't find a hat that was small enough to fit her.  Well that's not totally true, I could have paid $30 for a witch costume at Target which had a hat included, but that would have been crazy.  I finally decided just to make one for her.  While a normal sized hat would have been fun, I thought a mini witch hat would be cute.  What did it cost me?  Well, nothing since I had all of the supplies on hand, but if I hadn't had the materials on hand, it probably would have cost around $1 or so.

Here's what I did:

Using this pattern, I cut out my foam sheet.

 I wrapped the foam around into a cone and hot glued the seam.  I then added on little strips along the inside of the cone in order to glue the cone to the base a little easier.  You could definitely skip this step and just put hot glue all around the bottom on the cone as long as you're planning to cover up the seam somehow.  Otherwise, you'll see the hot glue.

 I glued the cone to the base.

 I then added some tulle to match my daughter's tutu.

Last, I hot glued some elastic thread to help keep it on.  The elastic thread was perfect, it didn't bother her so she actually kept the hat on.  Yay!

Amazing Walmart Clearance Sale!

Pin It Today I went to the Orem, Utah Walmart and they were having a huge clearance sale on their girls summer clothes. 

How much did I pay for all of these clothes you ask....$12!!!  That's right!  They are selling these adorable outfits for $1 each!  And the shirts on the top came in sets of 2 for $1.  Sure, I went all out....but now I'm ready for next summer!  Check out your local Walmart to see if they are having the same deal.  It's seriously amazing!

Little Boy Tie Tutorial

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Last week I learned how to make little boy ties and thought I'd share what I learned.  They are so easy and so cute!  Plus, it's one of the few crafts I can make for my little guy on the way.  I hope my step by step tutorial helps you out.  These are probably the size you'd want for a 1 1/2 - 2 year old.  If you want to make them for an older child, just make the pattern longer.  If you have any questions please ask!

Using the pattern found here, cut out your fabric.  You will need to cut two layers of fabric - one being the pattern you want to show for your tie and the other being a backing (this one will only show on the little corners in the back).

Put the right sides together and sew the corners together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

 Clip the fabric on the corners - making sure not to cut the actual seam.

 Flip the fabric right side out and iron the corners so they are nice and sharp.

 Fold the tie in half with right tie pattern sides together and sew down the edge.  Once again using the 1/4" seam allowance.  DON'T sew the corner ends, only the long edge.

 Press the seam open and then using a safety pin, flip the tie right side out again.  You do this by putting the safety pin on the corner and then feeding it down the hole on that same side.

Press your tie again so it's edges are nice and sharp.

 This is what the back of the tie looks like.

Cut a piece of fabric that is approximately 2 3/4" wide and 16" long.  Feel free to make this strip longer or shorter if you need to.  This is what will be going around the neck.  Put the right sides together and sew a straight line using a 1/4" seam allowance.

 Flip it right side out (again with the safety pin) and then press your fabric. with the seam being in the middle.

 Sew the ends shut - if you are wanting to do elastic for part of your neck piece, simply put it about 1/2" into the end and then sew your fabric shut.

 

 How to Tie the Tie

Place your tie like this around the neck piece.

Bring the back of the tie across the front.

 Pull the back piece up high so if looks like a normal tie not and then wrap it around to the back. (Look at the images - it will help a lot ha).

 Tuck the back of the tie through the front.

 Now move that little piece that is sticking out of the front to the back.  You just have to slide it around.  Tighten the knot by pulling on the neck piece. Using a needle and thread, stitch the little back piece to the second layer of the front piece, but only through that layer so it won't be seen from the front.  This will keep it from getting untied.

 And here is your tied tie.

 All you do after this step is add Velcro or snaps to the neck piece or whatever else you are wanting for your attachment. 

These are some ties I made for my little guy this weekend.  Aren't they so cute???

This are super easy to make and use very little fabric.  I would recommend getting about 1/4 of a yard - and you will definitely have some extra fabric with that.  You could maybe get by with 1/8 yard, but it would be close.

If you'd like to see my new tutorial on how to make clip-on bow ties go HERE