Short on time and money and want to make coordinated patriotic outfits for your kids? I got you! (And so does the Dollar Tree!)

I am always excited to peruse the Dollar Tree‘s seasonal items. This spring was no different, as they started phasing into stocking 4th of July merchandise.

My eye was instantly caught by these packages of individual swags of bunting. I envisioned using them to make aprons for the girls and capes for the boys. This was all I needed to go into full, red-white-and-blue production!

Let’s start with the focal material: the bunting. They were very creased when I first popped open the cardboard packaging and unfolded them.

I was wary of ironing them, because I knew the plastic material could easily melt. However, I set the iron on a very low setting and hoped for the best.

I thoroughly wet a towel, (using a patriotic one seemed appropriate) wrung it out, and lay it on the ironing board. I placed the bunting on top and started to press.

The damp towel really helped the creases to disappear, and I managed to get most of them out. Nothing terrible happened to the bunting material, either. Whew!

The bunting was quite wet after pressing, but it dried in minutes and was soon ready for the next step: trim! I ransacked my stash of thrifted, vintage lace and found enough to stitch around the bottom edge of each of the three of the pieces of bunting.

Before sewing on a ribbon sash, I removed the three metal grommets that were along the top edge of each piece of bunting. They were very flimsy and came right out with a few twists of the pliers!

Now, I could stitch a ribbon sash onto the top edge of each piece of bunting. I used this red, grosgrain ribbon from my stash.

Stitch, stitch, stitch! I left plenty of extra length at each end for tying a bow.

Here’s a back view of how I stitched on the ribbon sash and the lace trim.

Ta-da! Didn’t it turn out cute? This is seriously one of the easiest and most satisfying things I have made in quite a while. (It’s really fun to use something that’s already cut and prepped.)

What’s better than one cute thing? How about three cute things?

And, here’s the aprons in action!

Emma:

Eliza:

Annika:

Next time, I’ll share how I used the same bunting to make patriotic capes for the boys!

 

Glad Midsommar (Happy Midsummer)! Today is the Summer Solstice, which is the most anticipated and joyfully celebrated holiday in Sweden. (Or so I hear. We have yet to visit!) Since Jeff and I recently received our Ancestry DNA results (and made the surprise discovery that Jeff is Swedish, too) it seems like the right time to celebrate Midsommar on the blog!

   

So, it transpires that I am only 12% Swedish. I was expecting more, due to my heredity. For some reason, I have always felt Swedish. It’s probably because it’s a shared ancestry from both my parents and because I have many sweet stories of my mom’s Swedish ancestors, photographs, and physical objects that they owned and even made. One of my great aunts has been to the old, family home in Småland (pronounced: smoh-lahnd), so I can visualize their lives in a quaint, red house, by a river. I hope to share more pictures of all these things in a future post!

It should come as no surprise that I have been slowly and steadily collecting Swedish folk costumes over the last fifteen years! This is a photo of Emma, from a couple of years ago. I bought her costume on Tradera, which is a Swedish auction site, similar to eBay. Jeff jokingly calls it “Swede-Bay”. Shipping from Scandinavia can be expensive, so this costume cost a little over $100! (I plan on sharing my best Tradera shopping tips in an upcoming post.)

Look how darling it is, though! This particular costume is from Dalarna province, Leksand parish. On holidays, the little girls there wear yellow, flannel dresses,

handwoven striped aprons,

floral shawls and bonnets,

and little purses. (External pockets.)

This particular costume even came with a silver shawl pin and a gilt, enamel bracelet.

The pin has little dangles that are similar to their more famous cousins; the solje, which are worn with Norwegian bunads (folk costumes).

Midsommar seems to be the holiday that Swedes are most likely to wear a folk costume, especially the children. It doesn’t get more Swedish than swinging in a birch tree on Midsommar!

Since acquiring this outfit for Emma, I have also found another outfit for Eliza on eBay,

and a boy’s Leksand outfit for Elliott on Tradera.

Check out these swanky, old-fashioned, drop-front britches! (Have fun trying to go to the bathroom while wearing these, kids.)

Here they all were, a couple years ago, posing by our Swedish Mora clock (a miracle find on Craigslist).

However, now we have two more kiddos to costume, and Elliott has certainly outgrown his little boy folk costume! It takes years for me to find these costumes (and believe me, I am constantly looking) and they are expensive! Plus, I’m always nervous that they might spill on these priceless, dry-clean-only materials. What is a costume crazy mama to do? I guess we’re going to have to make our own! Stay tuned. In the meanwhile, go dance outside, eat some strawberries, and celebrate the coming of summer with your loved ones! Glad Midsommar!

 

 

 

 

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!