Archives for March 2019

This St. Patrick’s Day costume project really took on a life of its own! I started with the idea of converting shirts into vests for the boys, and before I knew it, I realized I could use all the leftover bits to make matching accessories for our girls. In this post, I’ll show you how I used the leftover collars to make choker necklaces and crown headdresses for Emma, Eliza, and Annika! So, first, you can see the dyed shirts and what they looked like after I whacked off their sleeves and collars.

Then, I started to unpick the stitching that held the collar bands to the shirts, and then separating the collars from the collar bands.

Once the two pieces of each collar were separated, I pinned around each collar band. Then, I top-stitched completely around them to form the choker necklaces. Next, I cut elongated triangle shapes form the collars to form the tiaras and stitched around the raw edges.

At this point, I realized I was out of gold puff paint. JoAnn Fabric and Craft is on Jeff’s way home from work, so I asked him to pick up a bottle for me. He texted me this picture. Apparently, there are TONS of options! I chose the bottle second from the right. I wanted the gold designs to be metallic, but not glittery.

A quick, Google Image search produced lots of great, Celtic knot designs. In the past, I probably would have tried to painstakingly trace the designs onto my crown and necklace pieces. These days, desperation for time makes me brave (or reckless). I just looked at these designs and free-handed the paint. Not bad! However, I did realize I forgot a bit of the design at the bottom and fixed it, later. Do you see what I missed?

For extra Celtic bling, I added some adhesive “emeralds”. They were from the same Rainbow Gemstone Sheet I purchased at Walmart, for our Valentine’s Day DIY Prince Costumes. However, I learned my lesson from last time and stuck the jewels on with a blob of paint and surrounded each with a ring of the same.

Now, all I needed to do was attach each tiara crown shape to a headband or comb. So, I hot-glued Emma and Eliza’s to green, fabric-covered plastic Dollar Tree headbands that we already had.

I hot-glued Annika’s to a mini comb.

Ta-da! They turned out pretty!

Now to finish the choker necklaces! I buttoned them to find their front centers and marked the spots with pins. After studying some Celtic knot design images, I came up with a simple design that I liked: interlocking circles, ovals, and diamonds.

I had a lot of fun applying the puff paint! It was such a simple and relatively quick way to create a rich, jewelry look. I finished the designs with more “emeralds”.

Then, I left them to dry, overnight.

Look at that! I think these turned out really lovely, if I say so, myself. It was cool to see that the fabric dye I used for the shirts even dyed the buttons!

But, what about Annika? I only had two collar bands. What was her necklace made from? Fortunately, the Dollar Tree has a great ribbon selection in its floral and craft section! I selected the green ribbon, second from the left: Bright Grosgrain Ribbon, 5-yd. Spools. I cut a length of ribbon, leaving enough to tie it in a bow around Annika’s neck. Then, I applied the same design with paint and gems that I did for Emma and Eliza’s.

And, here’s the trio of choker necklaces!

Here are closeups of each crown and necklace in action. Emma:

Eliza (hers is harder to see, due to her blouse collar):

Annika.

So, there you go! All you need is puff paint, jewels, and a few scraps of ribbon and material, and you can make some lovely princess jewelry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Where on earth did I find all of those matching green clothes for our St. Patrick’s Day photo shoot? Well, I didn’t! As I mentioned in that post, green can actually be a rather tricky color to find. But, not to fear; Rit Dye is here! They even have the perfect Celtic shade: Kelly Green! I found it at JoAnn Fabric and Craft.

Now, I normally do all my dyeing in the washing machine. However, the boys’ shirts I was dyeing were 55% cotton, 45% polyester. Synthetic materials don’t “take” dye as well, so I thought the added heat and constant stirring required for stove-top dyeing would produce more vibrant and permanent color. I grabbed some tongs for grabbing and stirring the garments, and a plastic spinach container to rest them in when not in use. (Just in case the dye permanently colored a dish I actually care about!) *UPDATE* Since creating this post, I have learned that one should NOT cook and dye with the same pots and utensils. I now use a cheap pot, and some tongs from the Dollar Tree, and reserve them for dyeing purposes ONLY!

The cheapest salt around can be found at the Dollar Tree for fifty cents! I mixed one cup into the water and heated it to nearly boiling. Then, I poured the entire bottle of green dye into the pot.

And, what exactly was I dyeing? Well, I had two dress shirts that I wanted to turn into vests for the boys to wear. I also had a darling, white top for Annika. They just needed to be green! Here’s Oliver’s shirt:

Here’s Elliott’s shirt. I was really lucky to find two shirt with the same fiber content! This would help them to turn out in an identical shade of green.

Here is Annika’s shirt. It was so sweet that I almost didn’t want to dye it!

However, once the water looked hot enough and the dye was mixed in, I gave these three garments a serious soaking in water before adding them to the dye pot!

The stove top dyeing directions advise you to constantly stir the fabric for 45 – 60 minutes. This is to ensure an even dye job, since the material likes to float to the surface. This hour-long interval gave the kids plenty of time to notice that I was doing something weird in the kitchen. I told them I was making “Leprechaun Soup”. Afterward, I realized that it looked like I was actually cooking Leprechauns, clothes and all. Oops! Poor kids. I hope I didn’t scar them for life!

After an hour, I carefully dumped the super hot dye water onto a bed of pebbles in our backyard. (I didn’t want to stain our white, enamel, kitchen sink!) Then, I used the tongs to pick up the scalding hot clothes and put them in the plastic spinach container for transport to the washing machine. I ran them through the rinse and drain cycle to remove excess dye. Then, I washed them in a normal cycle with cold water and vinegar to help set the color. As you can see, they turned out a lovely, vivid green!

Here are the dyed clothes in action! Follow the hyperlinks to see how I converted the boys’ shirts into their vests and the leftover scraps into accessories for the girls!

 

Faith and Begorrah! St. Paddy’s Day is coming to an end, but not before I share some pictures of our wee folk! Elliott and Oliver were our Leprechauns, wearing hats and bow ties from the Dollar Tree. You might recognize their breeches from our Valentine’s Day Photo Shoot. Their vests are made from dyed dress shirts.

Elliott was a dapper and very cooperative Leprechaun.

Oliver was…Well, let’s just say he took getting this character “right” very seriously. By not cooperating at all. Like any self-respecting Leprechaun would. Can’t fault him for that!

Our Irish Step Dancing Princesses are wearing shoulder capes, crowns, and choker necklaces made from the leftover sleeves and collars from the boys’ dress shirt vests.

Oof! My hand still hurts from all that free-handed puff paint application. I love how the Celtic knot designs turned out, though!

Green is one of my favorite colors, but it’s probably the color least represented in our wardrobes. I should fix that! Green is tricky, though. I don’t know what it is, but it is either a color that looks amazing, or it can go terribly wrong. It has a polarizing effect on people! Are your eyes hurting, yet? I hope not, because there’s more green to come!

Starting to get into the spirit of things…

. . .

Gettin’ their jig on…

Fun fact: I was obsessed with Riverdance as a teen. This inspired me to take a 6-week Park-n-Rec Irish Step Dance class. So, I’m pretty much an expert. (Not!)

Some close-ups of our Crown Princess. Another fun fact: Emma was born with blue eyes, but they started to turn green, a couple of years ago.

Crown and cape detail. You can read about how I made the crowns and necklaces in this post: DIY Irish Princess Crowns and Necklaces.

I’m going to call this next segment “The Many Faces of Eliza”. Emma may be the Crown Princess, by virtue of birth order, but Eliza is the reigning family comedienne.

Am I smiling enough?

Little sprite.

We love her sparkle!

I feel like she knows something we don’t know.

Can’t get enough!

Eliza’s cape.

She’s got enough sass for the whole class, does our Eliza!

Plotting mischief.

Speaking of mischief…

This little Leprechaun was a stinker for most of this photo shoot. Nana was a pro and got some good shots of him, anyway!

Ditched the hat.

He wanted to wear the hat when we didn’t want him to, and vice-versa. Because of course.

Where’s the village ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee)? I’m hitchin up my britches and ready to dance!

I knew Oliver and Annika would not be “down” for this photo shoot, and seriously considered only costuming our older three. However, I HAD to go all the way. I mean, look at their hair!

Fun fact number three: Emma was born a strawberry blonde, like Oliver. However, her hair lightened during her second summer. While the current shade of her locks is quite lovely, I was rather disappointed. I LOVE red hair! So, we jokingly decided to have as many kids as it took until we produced a bonafide redhead. It looks like five might be our lucky number. Annika, we’re counting on you!

Peekaboo!

Jazz hands!

Annika’s cape.

Of course, no Heminger family photo shoot would be complete without chaos and crying babies. Oliver is leading the revolt. Viva la revolucion!

Oh…oh! So close. Eliiiza. *Sigh*.

Here we have the complete opposite: Eliza is the only one looking at the camera AND with a pleasant expression.

Well, it’s a wrap! Thanks for joining us for our St. Paddy’s Day party!

What do you do when life presents you with a time machine? You jump into it, of course! Especially if that time machine is only four doors down the street. Dear readers, hitch up your bell bottoms, because you are about to enter the 1970s!

I know, right? It’s totally rad! And where is this magical portal to hippie land? It is the basement of Jeff’s grandparents’ home.

If you thought that was cool, check out the pool table and the sweet band setup!

Jeff’s grandpa, Bruce, played a key role in designing their home. This basement really has it all! Everyone loves taking a whack at the drum set.

I mean, it just doesn’t stop! Everywhere you look, there is more vintage awesomeness.

Of course, I am partial to this view.

So, a 1970s photo shoot had to happen, down here. I’ve been scheming about it for years. Thanks to Jeff’s Aunt Lynne (photographer) and the combined vintage collections of my mother-in-law Karen, and my own, we finally pulled it off! Jeff’s grandparents also deserve a huge “Thank you!” for letting us invade their home. We took our first photo upstairs. As usual, Oliver and Annika were not in the mood for pictures. However, I told myself that it was okay if we looked a little unpolished. It just adds to the air of authenticity…Right? Speaking of authenticity, I also edited these photos to give them a vintage look.

Basement time! These shots look spontaneous, but we were doing whatever it took just to keep all the little people in the frame!

This is definitely when I began to sweat through my polyester…

“Okay, you guys. You can play pool, but please don’t hit anyone in the head with the cue sticks!”

Oh, you know. Just hangin’ out at the piano and havin’ some good, ol’ fashioned family fun.

Oh my goodness, it might look easy, but it is so hard to do this with little kids! I love how these photos turned out, though.

Chillin’ by the fireplace.

Oliver was totally done at this point. (Check out that pout lip!)

What self-respecting ’70s entertainment center would be complete without a wet bar?

The giant, wood-paneled television deserved a feature. So did my hunky, ’70s husband. (Yes, that is a wig and a false mustache.)

We couldn’t leave the 1970s portal without a little more music…

…

…

We closed our photo session with these sweet sisters. I just love all the prairie-inspired details in the clothes from this decade!

Well, that’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed your time travel with us! I loved experiencing the past, with our kids, in a beloved family setting. In upcoming posts, I will show you how I put all of these outfits together, including my first foray into wig styling. There will also be behind-the-scene looks at how we got ready. It takes a village to pull this off. Thank you, Karen and Lynne!

It’s been a while, so I figured it’s time for another edition of “Oh No You Didn’t!”. In other words, I get to tell you a story about how I tried to be cheap, how it backfired on me, and how I fixed it!

Emma and Elliott take a weekly Jazz/Tap class. They have a great time dancing together!

One challenge, though, is keeping up with their growing feet! It seems a shame to invest a lot of money in brand new dance shoes, so I am always on the lookout for new pairs at thrift stores, garage sales, Facebook Marketplace, etc. Elliott has usually worn the neoprene, slip-on style of tap shoe. When he grew out of his last pair, I was unable to find an inexpensive replacement, even on eBay. So, I decided to buy him a lace-up pair.

However, this made changing shoes in the middle of class much more challenging for my mother-in-law, who sweetly takes Emma and Elliott every week. It was also frustrating for Elliott. So, I decided to try something. What if I replaced the shoe laces with elastic cord?

I was leery of using round cord, as it might not hold a knot as well as a flatter lace. A quick search on Amazon produced just what I wanted: Dritz Oval Cord Elastic! This elastic cost about $6.00, which isn’t the cheapest solution in the world. However, I got the shoes for such a screaming deal, that I decided it was worth it. *Disclaimer* I am an Amazon Associate. Any purchases made through my affiliate links gives me a small commission. I am careful to only promote products that I personally use and enjoy!

First, I removed the original laces. Then, I cut two lengths of elastic to match the length of the laces.

Next came the difficult task of threading the elastic into the tiny lace holes. It was nearly impossible, but I grabbed onto bits of the raveled ends of the elastic to start pulling the laces through the holes. Having a needle or a pin to help poke the lace ends in might have helped!

Part way through, I made sure to pass a lace through the slot in the tongue of each shoe. This would make sure that the tongue wouldn’t be loose and scrunch down when Elliott pulled on the shoes. First shoe done!

Elliott kept me company. I love that smile!

Before I went through the bother of doing the second shoe, I thought I had better have Elliott try on the first one. So, I tied the elastic laces into a double knot gave it to Elliott. Would my idea work?

Ta-da! It worked like a charm! I rushed to finish the second shoe, because Karen was almost there to pick up the kids. Originally, I thought I would be cutting and stitching the laces together, with no bow. However, I like them this way. The shoes look just like traditional, lace-up shoes…but with secret stretch power!

Karen told me that Elliott had no trouble putting them on, during class, and she sent me this photo of the happy tappers!

It’s so fun to see the kids do these activities, together. It’s even more special that they get to share dance time with their Nana. She used to be quite the dancer, too!

Well, there you have it! Now, you don’t have to pass up those pesky, lace-up (but usually cheaper) tap shoes. You’ve got a new trick up your sleeves and your kids have easy to wear tap shoes on their feet!