T-shirt Refashion and Sheet Skirt!

So excited to share this.

I've been quite the little productive sewer lately. I recently discovered that I really enjoy sewing. My mom had a sewing machine sitting up in her closet for years and years that no one ever used or cared about. Ambitiously, I decided to ask for it and since I was the only one that cared to ask, she handed it over. It sat around taking up valuable space in my apartment for a long time. I didn't have the slightest clue as to what all the knobs and buttons were for-- I certainly didn't know how to wind a bobbin or string the thread for that matter. It only got used when Mom came in town and sewed curtains for me. The longer it sat taking up space, the more I wanted to get rid of it. My mom told me not to sell it, that it was more valuable than the money I would be able to get for it. Well, neither of my sisters wanted it and I couldn't find anyone to indefinitely loan it to. So I was stuck with it. I might as well use it.

Well, after a few months and lots of trial and error, internet tutorials, phone calls to Mom, and evenings with the owner's manual, I now know what the knobs do. I feel confident with my presser foot and bobbin! I'm SO glad I didn't give in to the decluttering urge to sell it! And my mom was right after all: It's way more valuable to me now than the $20 I could have gotten for on Craigslist.

That being said, I now get to share with you my creations!

First off: The Sheet Skirt. I found this fantastic vintage sheet at Saver's and it was too adorable to let it slip away. Using the existing hemline, I gathered it up and sewed it into a high waistband skirt.

Next, my fave: The T-shirt Refashion! This bad boy started it's life as a Banana Republic XL Men's Tee. Somehow it found itself at Saver's where I snagged it for a cool 99 cents. I highly recommend this refashion for tired old t-shirts. Here's the how-to:

1. Flip the old shirt inside out. Take your best fitting favorite tee and flip that inside out too. Lay the favorite tee on the old one, lining up the necklines and trace the side seams and arm holes.

2. Cut off the sides. Sew the new sides up, leaving armholes open.

3. Next, trace your fave tee sleeves onto the old tee sleeves and cut them out.

4. Pin them to your new shirt and sew them on. (This was tricky to figure out. I consulted this tutorial by Homemade by Jill).

5. Using the excess shirt you cut off the sides, cut strips and gather them into ruffles! (I learned how from this tutorial by Dana Made It).

6. Pin the ruffles where you want them on your shirt and sew them on.

Presto chango! A tired old shirt is now a fun, feminine blouse and a definite conversation starter.

Love it! I wear this shirt all the time now. Because I traced my best fitting tee, this one fits like a dream. Because it was pre-loved, its already soft and comfy. This won't be the last ruffly tee I make!

Stay tuned for Wesley's cuddle quilt made from my old pjs. :)

7 months, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and 8 months!!

My goodness dear blog, it's been a while. Here are the things that have happened since I last wrote:

We packed up and made a 12 hour drive out to Fresno California to surprise Mom Mom and Pop Pop for Christmas! They had NO idea we were coming. It was the surprise of the year. :) We had sooo much fun. While we were there Wesley turned 7 months old!

Christmas Eve we left California and headed to Las Vegas for a beautiful Christmas celebration. Wesley LOVED Christmas. Opening presents is the BEST! He got spoiled by Grandlady and Grandpa Schteve for sure. He had TONS of fun when his BFF Crew showed up from Arizona. They had fun sharing toys, poking each other in the eyes, crawling around together, and teething! Crew was cutting some teeth and Wesley didn't want to be left out, so he got his first 2 bottom teeth.

After a rockin' New Year's dance party thrown by Tatum (sweet invites, by the way!) we rolled out back up to our Wintery Wonderland in Provo. Actually, it's been a VERY mild winter this year. I actually find myself missing the snow!

We just passed Wesley's 8 month birthday. I can't believe it. Since coming home after our Christmas travels, our little buddy has cut 3 more teeth for a total of 5 (wow! and we're nearly out of baby tylenol now), pulls up to standing on everything, learned that it hurts to fall so he better bend his knees when he needs to get down, and finally started crawling on his hands and knees instead of elbows and knees. He still isn't a fan of eating unless it's Cheerios or graham crackers or peaches. He's still the smiliest, giggliest, flirtiest, sweetest little baby and just a bundle of fun.

So there's your update! Stay tuned for pictures of my thrift store finds, the skirt I made out of a sheet, and my first ever t-shirt refashion! I'm so excited!

He's so ticklish

Zerberts in Texas

Happy Thanksgiving and Half Birthday

Wesley had a HALF birthday!! Those are a big deal to me. And they are a big deal for babies because that means they are getting SO big! To celebrate, we took Wesley to his first BYU football game! Go Cougs!! It was freezing, so Wesley hung out inside Dad's jacket most of the time.

I traveled over Thanksgiving for the first time in my life and we had a blast! We flew down to Texas on Wednesday and helped my parents pack up and MOVE from their house of 29 years. That was w e i r d to see my childhood home EMPTY. Should have taken more pictures.

Highlights: We had a blast with Ethan and Tristan who are GIANTS now... I can't believe they aren't 7 and 2 anymore... They LOVE playing with little Wesley and they are so sweet to him. We had an awesome game of tag after we all got hopped up on Thanksgiving pie sugar-highs!

I got to go to a fabulous yoga class with Dallin.

Catching up with Erlynne-- she lives too far away. Sisters should be closer!

Chris took Eric to experience Chik-Fil-A for the first time... now he's hooked! Best fast food chicken ever. and waffle fries and shakes and lemonade and polynesian sauce...

Grandpa Steve can never have tooo much baby-holding time, which was A-O-K with Wes!

Sorting through all my old high school stuff and enjoying the stroll down memory lane.

Helping Lady get Thanksgiving dinner ready-- yummy!

BLUE BELLLLLL!!! Best ice cream ever. Again, Eric has a new addiction. Too bad it's hard to get in Utah!

So much fun with family. It will be weird that my parents aren't there any more. For as long as I've been me, Plano has been my parent's home. I'm excited to have them closer in Vegas though.

And to close, here was the best highlight of all:

Wesley got to meet Santa!! He was a little confused as to why some fat jolly man was holding him instead of mom... and he certainly wasn't about to relax on this chump's lap! (Note the clenched fists). It was absolutely adorable. And this guy is the best Santa-- straight from the North Pole! (Apparently they have Texas accents in the North Pole).

He's mobile!

It's the end of life as we know it! Ok, not exactly... but on Saturday, Wesley mastered the back-to-tummy roll! Previously he could get to his side, but then he'd be stuck there. All of a sudden on Saturday afternoon he did it. He figured out that last step and now he's a rollin' machine! He rolled all the way across the living room floor and got stuck under the piano bench. He got stuck under the chair in the living room. He gets stuck on big toys when he rolls into them as well as the entertainment center. He rolls around in his crib now. I better get to babyproofing!

I'm so domestic...

Look what I learned how to do!

It started out simple enough... I wanted to learn how to can. I bought a half bushel of peaches from a roadside stand for $6. My friend Melissa came over on Conference weekend and showed me how. We canned 12 delicious quarts of peaches. I thought that was the end of my canning adventure...

Then a lady in my neighborhood let me pick her apple tree because she didn't have time to do anything with the fruit this year. Oh and while we were at it, why don't we just pick some grapes too? So about 40 pounds of apples and 8 pounds of grapes later, I ended up with 6 quarts of applesauce, 6 half-pints of grape jam, 8 half-pints of apple butter, and a bunch of dehydrated apples that were gone in no time.

Ok, so I thought I was done canning after allllll that apple-ing. But THEN! Pears went on sale for 25 cents a pound! I couldn't pass that up! For $3 I got 12 pounds of pears and bottled 6 quarts. Maybe I'm done now... Although I did find a delicious recipe for pumpkin butter and if it's anywhere as good as the apple butter I might just be canning again this weekend!