Oversized Prints: $3 at Staples

You've probably seen these:

Source: infarrantlycreative.net via Jodie on Pinterest

Source: sugarbeecrafts.com via Jodie on Pinterest

What?! You've never seen them? Well let me tell you, it's easy and cheap! Just visit the engineering prints page at staples.com to get started! The website says that engineering prints are not suitable for photographs, but if you have a good enough camera (ours is 10 megapixels), it works just fine!

Your size choices are 18x24, 24x36, and 36x48. Of course, the $2 poster frame I thrifted was none of those three sizes.


(That thing rolled up on the frame is the print. They print out your photograph on very thin paper).

Most photograph editing programs have the capabilities to crop the photo to the right dimensions. After cropping the photo the way you want it, upload it to the staples website, select what size you want, and it will be ready to pick up at your local staples before you can say "Decorating on the Cheap is more fun than watching Magic Mike!"

When I made mine this morning, it cost me under $3 plus tax to make a 24x36 print. I'm not sure if that was a special sale or that's their every day price, but other bloggers have quoted slightly higher prices.

When I picked it up, for some reason it was still a little larger than my 22x28 frame. I just had a little extra trimming to do, and then it fit into the frame perfectly. I <3 how it turned out!!



I can't wait until the basement is finished so I can get this up on the wall!!

Gerber Training Underwear Refashion

It's potty training time in our household!!! Can I get a Hallelujah! (And on a side note, anyone want to share how you washed poopy underwear?)

Anyway, awhile back, I had thrifted two pairs of new Gerber training underwear (they're they ones with the plastic outside, which by the way, do not stop pee from coming out and soaking the carpet). The tag says "tumble dry low." Just FYI, the dryer completely melted the plastic exterior in multiple places. *Sigh*

But never fear, I have a fabric stash a mile high which came to the rescue :)

I ripped off the old plastic coating, got out a thrifted jersey sheet (that's t-shirt material in case you don't know that term), and traced around the underwear leaving an inch or so all the way around for hemming and for a little extra give.

Cut two pieces out (one for the front, and one for the back). You can make the back piece a little larger if you want. With right sides together, I sewed the crotch and sides first.



At this point, the Gerber interior and the new fabric exterior are still two separate pieces. Then I started attaching the two parts together by stretching out the elastic waistband as I sewed. I sewed the top of the exterior as close to the elastic waistband as possible.







If you have a favorite underwear pattern or idea, I'd love to to hear about it!

Linking to Delightful Order's Thursday linky Party!

My Little Man with a Yellow Hat

You've all heard of Christmas in July, right? Well, it's Halloween in July :)



After reading over how other people have used yellow felt to create a yellow hat and realizing that I value my sanity too much to attempt it, I decided to go thrifting and find one to spray paint or dye instead. That didn't pan out so well.

But one trip to Michael's later, and voila! For $4, I scored a brown foam explorer hat! I already had yellow spray paint, black ribbon, and hot glue on hand.





If you're wondering how I made the faux necktie or how I changed the outfit from white to yellow, just follow the links :)


Linking to:

Sock Monkey Kids' Travel Pillow

Have you seen these seat belt pillows from Super Jenn? After seeing how comfy her kids looked, I knew I should totally make one for the car ride down to the Outer Banks for my three year old. And on a side note, with the HORRIBLE traffic we hit about just before we crossed over onto the islands, it took us 14 hours to get there. It was supposed to take us 11 hours. Sitting in three hour traffic for the last 15 miles was NOT FUN. Anyway...

This travel pillow was a completely free project! I almost forget about the miserable car ride when I think of the word free.

I already had the sock monkey fabric on hand. I had thrifted two sock monkey pillowcases awhile back and had a little fabric left after making a handmade swaddler for the baby.


Aww... Isn't he cute? He's a month old in this photo.
Now he's nine months old!

I followed Super Jenn's awesome tutorial, but I think I would have made the fabric flaps that go around the seat belt a little larger. I never did put velcro on mine because I don't think my flaps are large enough to get around the seat belt. That's okay though, because I could see my three year old throwing a tantrum on the interstate when he didn't want the pillow on his lap anymore. The way I did it, the pillow just rested on him so he could use it or not. He was free to remove it from his lap and throw it on his baby brother when he was done with it. Not adding the velcro also addressed the safety concern that some people had... although really, I don't think the thin flap of fabric that would have been under the seat belt would cause a safety issue. That flap is thinner than a sweatshirt or jacket!

To fill the pillow, I used a combination of thrifted polyfil and t-shirt scraps. I'd say the pillow was a huge success, and in a year or so, I'm going to have to make another one so that boy #2 has one too!

Pirate Appliqued Jammies

Did you know that Blackbeard was killed off of the Outer Banks in 1718? Argh!


We are home from the Outer Banks! And usually, as you head north to Ohio, the temperature doesn't increase. But holy smokes, as we crossed the bridge from West Virginia into Ohio, the little temperature thingie on the car said that it was 107 degrees.

*Beads of sweat rolling down our faces*

This heat is no fun. I can't imagine what our men and women are going through in Iraq and other hot places. I hear it's like 120 degrees there typically :(

Back to sewing. I found some really cute pirate jammie pants down in the OBX. At $11.99, they were a bit of a splurge, but I bought them anyway because I'm a sucker for anything with pirates on them. They had really cute pirate jammie tops too, but none in his size. And even if there were some in his size, I wasn't about to spend another $11.99 for the top. The way it is, I could have bought 12-24 pairs of thrifted PJs for that (and nice ones too, not the ratty I-would-never-dress-my-kid-in-this kind!).

I also saw a really cute appliqued lady's pirate tee down there, and I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting it. I found it online in kid sizes and pinned it:

Source: grays-sportswear.com via Jodie on Pinterest

I figured I could free-hand a pretty good pirate head from looking at this picture, and make an appliqued pirate PJ top to match the PJ bottoms I bought on vacation.

As I had already invested $12 in this outfit, I wasn't about to put another single penny into it. Using things I already had on hand, I created a pirate PJ shirt for my son :) The shirt itself was from my sister-in-law's heading-to-goodwill pile. I sewed down a plain black shirt of hers to fit a four year old. And then using red, white, and black t-shirt scraps and some fusible web from my stash, I made the pirate.

I looooooooove how it turned out!!! He, on the other hand, was not thrilled about it until I pointed out that the pants have little guns on them like HIS gun! His gun is a replica George Washington pistol :)









Linking up to:

Old Navy Flag Tee Upcycle

$5 flag tees from Old Navy! Everyone has one (or ten). My in-laws gave me a big box of clothes that was headed to Goodwill, and my brother-in-law's 2011 flag tee was in there.

Free flag tee plus this tutorial from Crafterhours equals an awesome upcycled tank top to wear on Independence Day!

An Independence Day Onesie

Happy Birthday, America!!!
(From the sandy beaches of OBX!)



To celebrate her birthday, I made Jonas a cute USA onesie using everything I already had on hand :) The onesie was actually a hand-me-down that his older brother wore (and it was second-hand even back then). I also used fabric from my stash, as well as fusible web that I had thrifted a long time ago. I saw something similar at The Ribbon Retreat, and knew I wanted to make one :)

Enjoy!
















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