spraypaint

Just a few things that I have made lately:
A sign for the front door. Ok, I didn't make the sign, I just painted it. Got it at JoAnns (I think) but wanted it to pop a little more. Clear coated it with spray paint so that it would stay nice outside.

I didn't make these cool Subway Art signs, my friend Sarah did (she is LaLa Creates on Facebook!) But I did spraypaint the mats! I couldn't find pink mats at the craft store, but luckily, spraypaint comes in all colors! So... I just painted the mats! I was really impressed that the spraypaint that I randomly picked out matches the color of the walls almost exactly! Yup, I am that good!

I didn't spray paint my son's, but I really like it, so I added that one, too!

Blue Jacket Park

This was another one of our impromptu park trips- we were headed for Wonderscope, but I didn't realize that it was closed on Mondays! Luckily, Old Town Shawnee has a lot to offer, including this cute little park that happens to be right around the corner from Wonderscope (as well as Splash Cove, which is our favorite summer pool!)
This is a pretty standard playground- swings, slides, open space, tennis courts, etc. But the one cool thing is that there are musical instruments on the underside of the structure- like where they would normally put a window, or a steering wheel, there are chimes and what is sort of like a little piano.
The kids have a good time here, parking is really close to the playground, and it is really convenient for a lot of trips that we make!

knotty dresses (and a tie shirt)

  
I really enjoy making clothes for my kids, so I thought that I would share a couple of pictures. I have this really bad habit of seeing something that is really expensive, and rather than just appreciating the time that goes into it (not to mention the cost of materials) I think, "Gee, I could make that." And then the craziness begins.
Here are two things that I actually DID manage to make myself.
The knotty, or apron dress- found a pattern for this on Etsy, there are a few. This is a pretty easy dress to make- You need about a yard of the skirt color, maybe 1/2 a yard for the bodice (less if you make the lining out of a different material) and about a fat quarter for the apron. The pattern calls for a little more for the apron, but for the butterfly dress, that is what I had, and I think it worked fine. You can also modify the pattern to use up lots of scraps by cutting stripes for the skirt. It can ben made with or without the apron, and the straps could tie at the shoulder, snap, button or knot, like I did mine. I think that I made the skirt a little long on the easter dress, but that is a small point!

I have seen many of these shirts around that have ties on them, and thought that they were probably pretty easy to make. This is the second one that I have made, but by far better than my first! I just used a hanes undershirt for the tee, that is just what I had on hand, a regular weight tee shirt would have worked better. However, I sometimes find it hard to find solid color, no pocket shirts. I can't remember where I got the tie pattern- I probably just searched google images. Traced it onto some double sided fusing, cut out the shape, ironed it onto the tie fabric, then cut it out. Ironed it onto the shirt, then just did a straight stitch around the edge. The tie is one piece, I sewed a line to differentiate the top "knot" part from the rest. A zig zag stitch works really well too, especially if you have a fabric that is more prone to fraying. I personally don't mind if it frays a bit, and usually if you get good fusing, it will work like an iron-on, and you don't have to worry too much about it.

West Flanders Park

West Flanders Park is located in Shawnee on the NE corner of 55th and Neiman. It is a big park, with a nice shelter and lots of green space. My kids like this park because it is designed to look sort of like a castle. There is one large structure and two small structures, which are connected to the larger one via a bridge and monkey bars. There are also a few animals to ride on and some swings.
We had an easter egg hunt at this park, the large space was great for it!
The playground is set a little ways from the parking lot, which means that I have to bring a stroller even if I only have my older two kids. Not a big issue, but you definitely can't just park and let the kids run right up to the structure.
Lots of trees and shade here.

Taming Pony Hair!

 I have a 3yo girl, which means we have a lot of dolls. And even more ponies. This also means a lot of synthetic hair. My daughter does not really seem bothered by the unkempt nature of her toys, but for some reason, it annoys the crap out of me. So, with a little help from Google and Pinterest, I thought that I would find a way to detangle all that hair.
First thing that you need to know is that doll hair is essentially plastic. This means that you really do need special tools to tame it. And I am not talking about those teeny little plastic combs that come with each and every pony! I used a doll brush, I think that it came with my American Girl ages ago. You can also use a wig brush, which is fairly easy to pick up at any beauty supply store. You want a metal brush that does not have the little plastic balls on the ends.
First thing that I tried was regular detangler, the same kind that I use on my kids. This worked ok, but not great. Pinterest suggested fabric softener. I used 1 part softener to 2 parts water. This really worked pretty well. I put it in an extra spray bottle and used it just like detangler. It really worked the best on the ponies. In the pictures, you can see before and after pictures. These were two of the worst- The one on the left was one from when I was a kid, and had probably never seen a brush. I don't know if it originally came with such short hair or it got cut at some point! The one on the right is Pinky Pie, one of my daughter's favorites. After spraying and bushing (from the ends, just like any hair) I wrapped the hair around my fingers and twisted it up to re-curl it. Some of the ponies hair turned out more curly than others, I don't know if this is due to what the hair originally looked like or what. I am still experimenting with that. The hair turned out really smooth, and my only complaint is that it is sort of slick, but I think that might go away over a bit of time. If I put too much solution in their hair, it started looking greasy.
For the American Girl, I really found that just using a brush is all you need if the hair is in relatively good shape. I used the fabric softener solution on Molly, since she has probably never had a good brushing, and I got her in 2nd grade! It took a little time to get her hair looking good!
For larger dolls, my best advice is that once you get their hair untangled, braid it or put it in pigtails, or else it will be a mess again in a matter of days!