I have a button!

I finally have a blog button! Thanks to A Heart For Home and their super easy how-to. Go check it out!

my first tutorial of the cutest dress EVER!

This is my best refashion and my first tutorial

{so forgive me for leaving out some pictures of steps}!

I used 3 different shirts and transformed them to

1 fabulous (if I may say) dress.

So I got a large men's collared shirt at the thrift store for $2.

I buttoned up and sewed the opening shut. Then I cut off the sleeves and the top collar

part as you can see in the picture below.

I cut it to where I could have the shirt pocket on the skirt without having to move it.

Then I took a stretchy rib knit tank top (given to me FREE!)

and cut off the bottom 6 inches

(this will vary, depending on the length of your torso) for the waistband.
I had to take this in a bit, to make it more fitted, but still stretch.

I bought a fitted long-sleeved gray t-shirt (forgot before pic!) from
Target and cut it off where I wanted the waistband to start.
Save the piece you cut off for ruffles (*will add how-to pics later)

For the skirt part, I used a skirt I own that had a shape I wanted.
I wanted this dress to be a few inches longer.

I then sewed my side seams (about a 1/2 in.).

This is where I really forgot pictures, but if you sew at all this is very easy.

I matched up side seams and sewed together the skirt to the waistband, then top-stitched.

Then the gray tee to the other side of the waistband. I added the ruffles (which I learned from the many other tutorials out there) before this step.

Here is a close-up of the inside of the waist/skirt part that

shows the seam and the top-stitching

and here she is!!

{click pics to enlarge}

ruffle detail...

waistband

I LOVE it... if you have ANY questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them!

Linking up to:

cabin fever project

This is what you do when you can't go anywhere for days & days & days....

You decide you're going to turn some perfectly fine

off-white muslin throw pillows

into faux french grain sack pillows

{click picture to enlarge}

O Lord, I love the house where you live,

the place where your glory dwells.

Psalm 26:8

DIY Day

I'm linking up here with one of my old projects

Go check out the other amazing ideas and projects on A Soft Place to Land!

A wee bit delayed...

as soon as Christmas was over, we had to get back in the swing of our homeschooling

and we've been at it ever since!

I wanted to share a couple of the cute little Christmas

gifts I did.

calling cards

{I made some of these for my sister, then I had to make some for myself!}

corsage pin

{I made these for the ladies in my life}

BUT...you don't have to be one of those to get one

because soon

I will be opening my

Etsy shop, allie~millie designs!

Family Rules

I finally got around to taking pictures of my "Family Rules" canvas project...

I had alot of fun with this one!

little bird nest detail...

burlap and ribbon border detail. I love the contrast of the two...

birdcage embellishment~

the bottom verse sums up my prayer for our home~

I am still working on getting all of my Christmas put away (shhh...don't tell!) and

taking pictures of a few things that I made to post soon.

Christmas & Creating

Okay, so I'm the world's worst blogger...I get too busy reading all the other amazing ones with amazing ideas and then my little brain is gushing with ideas which keep me so busy, I never keep up with my own blog...sheesh

I've seen all the cute cookie sheet Christmas advents/countdowns and I love them, so I decided I would make one of my own. I love the way it turned out and I think I'll make one that can be interchangable for the rest of the year to hang in the kitchen.

*please pardon my terrible pictures and the lovely date on them*

I'm working on a "Family Rules" canvas too and will try to get pictures up when I finish...if I'm not busy with some new project!


Getting ready for Christmas means...

getting out THESE beauties (yes, I stored them in ziploc bags!)

I just love the aged patina on some of them. I've been scouring garage sales for them before the became such a hot item. I could get a whole box of Shiny Brites for .25 cents! Now, they're a bit harder to come by. I can't have enough of them. Some of them hung on my grandparents' tree...

I love the little pinecone one...

I'm off to get more ideas!

A little project....

I had modge-podged these paper mache' letters a couple years ago in leopard and red toile tissue paper but got tired of looking at them and stuck them away. I had a little inspiration when I bought this awesome paper, so I spray painted (which I am all about) right over the shellack and modge-podged the fronts. They'll look too cute taking up space standing on a bookshelf.

Ugly lamp shades...Before

These are the lampshades I bought on Friday waiting for

their beauty treatment for Allie's room!

Miss Allie's Room

We have been working on Allie's (my 11.5-year-old) room, scraping that lovely popcorn (with glitter, I might add!) ceiling off. Her Daddy's been working hard re-texturing it and the walls. Allie and I've been having fun thinking of and making fun accessories for it, deciding on the colors and fabrics for her new duvet, window treatment, walls. We have some super-fun ideas for wall art that I'm going to paint. We have several pictures of inspiration and yesterday I went to a garage sale and found some goodies to use for this picture...

photo: PBTeen

busy summer and my first re-do job!

I have been SO busy this summer! But now that we'll get school
in full swing, hopefully we'll have some version of a "normal" routine...

I FINALLY finished a table and chairs for a friend of mine to go in

her little girl's room. It took me a while with all of our business but

I think the end result was SO cute. The sanding took forever, I wanted

to get it totally smooth and free of brush marks, since I'm a perfectionist
like that! I was going for a simple, antiqued, pottery barn-esqe look...

Here's the before...

and here's the after....

Ahhh...summer-time fun!

Here's what I've been up to with the family...

And watching lots of these....

We had the BEST family vacation ever, driving from Oklahoma down to the Sunshine State, along the beautiful gulf coast. We saw everything from the mighty Mississippi in New Orleans, where we walked down Bourbon Street (with blindfolds on the girls, of course), to Fort Pickens in Pensacola, which was used in the Civil War and once held Geronimo!

We snorkeled with manatees and went scuba diving in the Rainbow River.

We saw the foothills of the Appalachians and had some awesome bar-b-que in where else but Memphis, Tennessee!

So, I've been resting and recovering from our vacation adventure. I'm back to normal now so of course, I'm going thrifting and will post pics of my finds later!