Easy T-Shirt Dress for Toddler

I had some t-shirts of mine that were in the donate pile but I decided I would see if I could make them into something for my daughter, Blythe.

I took one of her current dresses that she can wear and laid it on top of the t-shirts.  I used this as my template and cut out around her dress leaving about a 1/4" extra for sewing the seam.  I used the existing neckline of my shirt and kept it the same length so I could use the hem that is already there. 

After I cut the shirt, I pinned it, inside out, everywhere I needed to sew (basically just down the sides).  I sewed a straight seam, flipped back to the right side and viola! I was actually surprised at how well it turned out and how easy! 

Most of my shirts were a small and Blythe currently wears a 5T, sometimes a 6, but she is on the shorter end of the scale.  So I won't be able to do this for long, unless its a tunic, but I really enjoyed this project and so did Blythe, cause I let her help with everything.  I am far from an expert seamstress-the exact opposite, I would say. But I can sew a straight seam (or semi-straight depending on how closely you look ;) and I can follow simple directions.  Unlike a pattern.  Which is the exact opposite of simple.

Here are the shirts before I butchered them...and I was very over-zealous thinking I could get 3 done....but only two made the cut before I had to walk away.  Below is the first one and we are actually wearing it as a nightgown currently.  Don't ask about the Grandma-Loving school picture pose.  I will insert a fake woods back drop next time I'm using photoshop.  And perhaps a picket fence or a bale of hay.

Dinosaur Birthday Invitation

I decided to challenge myself when it came time for my son's 3rd birthday and see if I could make his dinosaur birthday invitation with only the things I had in my home.  And by challenge, I mean it was the end of the month and I'm on a budget…and I am obsessed with staying on budget this year.

So…I had white 8 x 11 card stock and some ink in my printer waiting patiently for my brilliant idea.

Which didn't evolve until much pinteresting (too much, actually…master at the art of time suck-age).  I decided I couldn't draw a dinosaur that didn't look like it was a mix between a shark, a dinosaur and a duck; and I wasn't a fan of any clip art I found.  So I decided to fake it.

I cut the 8x11 into (4) 4x6 pieces and set this as my paper size for the document in Word.  I would cut extra for sample prints.  I needed 30 invites, so I cut 34.

Then I played with the fonts and right aligned all the wording. You can obviously use any font you want and size.

"Roar" is the font Cracked in size 65.
"Kellen's 3rd Birthday" is Desdemona in size 24 in bold.
And the rest is Chalkduster in size 11, also in bold.

Then I printed a couple of samples…which was good cause apparently I don't know which way my printer sucks the paper through.

Once I had it the way I wanted it, I printed them all out.

This is where it gets weird and very budgety (it is a word).  I found a foam sheet (could be any color) with the sticky back and cut out a shape that resembled a dinosaur footprint (I googled it for pictures and then did my best rendition).  I used some brown ink I already had (it was dark brown/espresso like color).
I actually stuck the footprint to the  clear lid of the ink to use like a stamp.  I think you could stick this to anything clear, like a glass-it just helped to align the stamp and know where you are putting it.

Then I stamped all the invites.  I also took a pencil and inked the sharpened end and dotted it randomly to look like dirt around the footprints.

Once the ink dried, I cut jagged edges in the top left corner to resemble bite marks.  Ta-Da!  Each invitation was slightly different, but heck, its homemade and that makes it quirky and very cool...plus its for a 3 year old.
It was a tad time consuming, but easy to spread out the time and do a little here and there.  And free.  Sort of.