gemma's hair bow

I have had several inquires about Gemma's hair bows seen here, here and here. They are so easy I almost feel silly doing a how-to but your wish is my command! :)

You need: narrow ribbon; I use 1/8" wide, scissors, a tooth pick and corn syrup.


































Cut a length of ribbon about 8". Make two loops. Now tie them together. (You know, the bunny runs around the tree and into the hole...). Adjust the loops and tails until it looks even. Clip the tails.




















Dip a toothpick into the corn syrup. With the toothpick smear a drop or two of the corn syrup onto the back of the bow and stick it on your baby girls head. Gemma's bows usually stay stuck to her head until I give her a bath. Once one stayed on for three days because I was lazy and didn't bathe her!

mod doll house plans

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that you all have enjoyed a safe and happy Holiday season!


I finally finished the template for the doll house. I didn't think it would take so long but we have been spending every spare minute with family! Not that I am complaining, we've had lots of fun. I even had a couple of hours of good contractions today. Maybe this little one will arrive a little early. That would be a first for me!



A few tips:
1- I bought a 4'x8' piece of 1/2" plywood and was barely unable to get all the pieces cut from that one piece of plywood. Luckily, we happened to have a scrap piece of MDF on hand and didn't need to buy more wood but if you make a dollhouse from this template you will need more than one piece of plywood if you don't have some scraps hanging around.

2- Michael cut all the pieces with a jig saw but a table saw would work well too.

3- The top edge of the side wall (D) needs to be mitered slightly to match the slope of the back wall (A).

4- The back wall (A), side wall (D) and the front wall (E) are all secured to the top of the base piece (B).
5- To assemble the house we used 1" finishing nails and a hammer. It is much easier if you have someone to help you with this part. Michael and I laid the base piece top down and pounded nails into the wood (about 1/4" from the back edge, side wall edge and front wall edge) just until the nails were barely visible on the top side of the base piece.

With the pieces on their sides, I lined up the back wall (A) with the base (B) where the barely visible nails were while Michael hammered the nails down. We continued with each wall piece. Measure and mark where the 2nd floor piece (C) will go and again hammer the nails into the wood until barely visible, hold the 2nd floor (C) into place and completely hammer the nails down. The roof pieces (H & I) were last were done in the same manner. Lastly we installed the interior walls (G & F).

6- Our cuts weren't perfect. Once the house was put together there were lots of gaps at the roof line. The house was secure but it didn't look pretty. I used caulk (make sure it is paintable!!) to fill in the gaps knowing it would never be noticed once the house was painted and wallpapered.
7- We eye-balled the window placement once the house was all put together. The windows are about 9"x6.25" except, of course, for the triangular window which is as wide as the other windows but only a few inches high and the long edge of the window matching the angle of the roof. The windows were cut out with a jig saw.


Cost break down:
furniture- eBay $15
vintage kitchen- eBay $29
bath fixtures- eBay $17
plywood $20
paint- sample from Lowes $3
carpet- sample from carpet store $2
linoleum- Home Depot $3
faux tile bathroom floor- Hobby Lobby $3.5
scrapbook paper for wallpaper- Michaels and Hobby Lobby $7
wood beds- unfinished wood pieces from Hobby Lobby $8
mod podge (with coupon)- Hobby Lobby $4
Krylon plastic spray paint $9
flowers for flower boxes- Walmart $3
1x2 wood for flower boxes $2

Total $125.50

Quick links to the other dollhouse posts:
part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4


If you make a dollhouse for your little one I would love to see it!

turning a fabric tube

A few weeks ago when I posted the rosette tutorial D-lyn asked how I turned my closed-end fabric tube right side out. It would be too difficult to capture with pictures so I present to you my first how-to video:

how to: evergreen wreath

Last week when we picked out our Christmas tree, I noticed a big pile of branches that had been trimmed from the trees. When I asked what they did with the branches I was told "give them to people that buy a tree". Sweet! I had never made a wreath before but I figured it couldn't be that hard. Turns out that Michael made wreaths as a service project when he was a youth living in Vermont. Who knew? The man has all sorts of hidden talents!

How to turn this:

Into this:

Gather your supplies- wire hanger, gloves, pliers, clippers and fine gauge wire (I use 26 gauge).

Straighten out your hanger wire. Form into your desired size. For the small wreath the hook part of the hanger was removed and the wire overlapped it self to make it 8" in diameter. For our large wreath we used the full length of the hanger.

Using your clippers, cut off lengths of the branch- about 18" and smaller for the large wreath and 12" and smaller for the small wreath. Make a bunch with 2-5 branches (depending on how full your branches are). Wrap the wire around the bottom few inches of the bunch and the hanger wire.

Make a knot (like a twist tie) when you start.

One bunch secured. Layer the next bunch over the first and wrap. Keep going around the hanger wire until you have reached the beginning.

Finished small wreath:

Finished large wreath:

Michael and I made the large wreath together. It is a lot easier with four hands! I was able to easily make the small one on my own though. Total cost for two fresh evergreen wreathes: $0!

art gallery hack

Here are the long awaited instructions on how-to create the art gallery. Sorry it took so long!


FYI- My instructions will make a lot more sense if you have the Deka curtain rod in front of you. Deka comes with a wire, two post screws, two cylinder thingambobs, two end cappers, and a bunch of clips (I just made all those names up because IKEA doesn't include actual words with their instructions). Decide where you want to hang your gallery. Screw the post screw into the wall. You will need to buy your own screws and wall anchors (IKEA doesn't provide those).

Tighten one end cap onto one end of the length of wire.

Insert end cap end into the cylinder.

Put a little curl on the end of the uncapped wire.

Insert curled end through one of the holes on the side of the cylinder. You will need to determine which hole before you insert the wire. Do this by twisting the cylinder onto the post screw that is attached to the wall. Put a tiny sharpie mark next to the hole that you want the wire to come out of. Don't skip this step! I did at first and had to start over.

Pull the wire out as much as you can. There will be a small loop left inside. That's okay. Now twist the cylinder onto the wall mounted post screw. Watch out for the wire as you are twisting.

Twist the other cylinder on the the other post screw. thread the end of the wire through the holes and attach the end cap (pulling the wire taught). This step is easier if you have an extra set of hands. Trim the wire.

Good luck! Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I will do my best to answer them!

how to hem your jeans and not look like a dork

are you short? i am! 5'3" to be exact. growing up i hated having to have my jeans hemmed. my mom is an excellent seamstress but her hemming jobs were always obvious. for years i just wore jeans that were too long. i am too tall to wear petites and too short for regular length. it's as if the fashion designers think all women wear stilettos each day. news flash, i am a mom not a super model. i generally wear flats not heels. anyhow, a couple of years ago my friend Shanda taught me this method. from what i understand this is how the professionals do it.

jeans that are WAY too long.

pin jeans to the desired length. now take your jeans off and put on other pants or you can sew in your undies like me while hoping that no one comes to the door.

sew close to the bottom hem. if you arent' taking off much length you can now fold down the original hem and iron.

because i took off so much length i surged close to (but not on) the seam.

close up you can see the seam but in action you'd never know.