Pretty Princess Dress

Recently I got the idea to make a princess dress for Ariana. I wanted it to be a tutu dress, but didn't want to use the crochet top that so many others have (something about them is too revealing for me). So I set off to the store to buy my supplies and after a few hours worth of work, here it is.

Can you tell who it is? Yep, Snow White!

It's not perfect, but a great start. I actually bought material to make a Belle one as well, but it will have to wait (for now). After that I want to do Rapunzel.

To make the top I bought some elastic thread. All I can say is LOVE. After this project I'm addicted.

 

I'll be back again once I get the others done, but for now I'm entering this project into a crafting challenge.

 

 

Finally, a craft project!

I know it's been forever since I've done an art project and blogged about it. Actually, I've done a few little things here and there around the house, especially with the holidays of the past few months, but without a camera I haven't been able to blog about them. Oh, and speaking of my camera (and how I'm able to blog with photos now), it was found last week as we were getting ready to go to the zoo as a family. Apparently the camera somehow got into the stroller and put into the closet back in November.

Anyways, back to the project for today.

I stumbled upon this craft challenge while scanning Facebook and knew I had a super cute idea for a super simple project. Yes, I had to say super two times. For this challenge, all items must be purchased from a dollar store and completed in less than 30 minutes.

Here's a photo of my supplies.


Any size frame and foam board

That's all. Well, except for a computer, printer, tape, and scissors. I also added some wrapping paper to the project that I had left over, which was purchased at the dollar store a while ago.

First thing you need to do is open up your word processing program on your computer. Then open "Page Settings" and adjust your page size to match the size frame you purchased (8x10, 5x7, 4x6, etc.). I would suggest selecting the "borderless" option for the size you choose. Then type what letter you want your monogram to be, adjust the font and size (mine was 700pt) and try to get a good fit on your page. Since your page will be the same size as your frame, you'll have a good idea of how it will fit once printed.

This next step is optional, but, I like to open the font settings tab and select "outline" which will turn your letter white with just a thin line around it. This saves a ton of ink, and since you will only use the letter you print to trace, I'd hate to waste so much ink. Now print.

Once printed, I like to trace around the outline with a marker so it's easier to see. This, too, is optional, but again something I prefer to do. Once traced, cut it out and lay it face down onto the foam board and trace around it. With an Exacto knife (or scissors) cut out your traced letter. Set it aside.

Now, take your frame and remove the back. Lay the back piece down onto the wrapping paper (hanging side up) and cut around it leaving about 1/4". Use some tape to "wrap" the paper around the back piece. 

Now, lay the frame facing up and attach (with tape) the cut out letter onto the glass, making sure it's centered.

Now, you're done. Hang it and admire your work.

 

Total cost for project: $3.00 ($1.00 frame, $1.00 foam board, $1.00 wrapping paper)

Happy Halloween



I cannot believe it is November already. How did that happen?

I had a lot of fun this year with the kid's costumes. I let J pick out the theme again this year and he decided on Star Wars after he saw a Darth Vader costume at the store. I knew I couldn't make one better so I forked over the $20 and called it a day. Of course, then we went on the search for a light saber. The cheapest one we could find was $10. I know that's not a lot, but I really wanted to keep cost down so I tried to come up with something different. My search led me to the Halloween accessories aisle where I found a foam sword. Then with a few cuts to make it look more "saber" like and a nice coat of red paint we were set. I'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out, and for $2, you can't beat that.

 

With J being Darth I decided to make A Princess Leia (original, huh?). After doing some research (I'm not too familiar with Star Wars, so I wasn't sure what she wore) I decided to make the white dress Leia wore in "A New Hope." I set out in search of an easy pattern for a long sleeve dress and came across this one. I did tweak it a bit to make the sleeves come to a point, but other than that, it is exactly the same (it was so easy to make, I even made another one out of cute Halloween fabric). For the belt I bought a pack of key chains from the jewelry section in Jo Ann's and clasped them together, then tied white ribbon to each end and tied it around her waist. I knew A wouldn't wear a wig, nor would she stand to wear a headband, so I did the next best thing. I put her hair in pigtails but looped the last little bit of hair so it looked like a bun. Easy.

 

Random Blah

So, I've been trying to come up with post ideas so I'm not away for very long without posting something, but I just can't seem to come up with anything. I notice that if a post involes pictures, it usually takes me forever to post it. Not sure why, most of my pictures are on the computer. I guess it's because Blogger is such a pain in the butt when it comes to posting pictures just the way I want them. I've had to become very familar with the HTML format of this blog just to post my pictures from Christmas.

As of lately I've been focusing most of my attention on coupons (as mentioned here). I've been able to score some pretty good deals which I hope to brag about some more soon, once I have my loot. I did do a trip already this week, and plan to go back out tomorrow for more. It's slowly becoming an addiction to find a good deal.

I've been slacking on posting my photos for the Photo 366 Project, but I am taking them. They're all on my computer, just waiting to be edited and then I'll have them up. I'm enjoying looking through all of the photos and being able to remember each day like it was yesterday. I can definately see me taking that away from this project, many special memories with my family.

Also, I'm starting a new project tomorrow. I will finally have an office! I'm so excited. I found this blog while searching Pinterest one day and fell in love with her closet office. So last month I decided to clear out Jamie's closet (we have a his and hers) and move all of his stuff into mine. This then motivated me to go through all of my clothes and get rid of the items I know I haven't worn in months, if not years. Ahh, for little accomplishments. So look forward to seeing some photos as things come along.