Happy New Year...2012 in Review

Happy New Year!

We hope 2012 has been good to all of you.

I feel very blessed.  We have had a wonderful month of Christmas, enjoying visiting family and the joy of the season.  I am very excited for a fresh new year and accomplishing new (and old) goals.  

As I look back on our year of blog posts, it feels so good to have accomplished so many creative projects.  This blog is my way of actually bringing to life all of the ideas and creations floating around in my head.  Deadlines and accountability keeps my laziness and procrastination in check.  Well maybe not procrastination... don't think that will ever go away!  :)

Here are some of our most popular posts from 2012.  

We are excited to get back into the swing of things and create more in 2013!

1. The Everyday Skirt

2. Autie's Cardi

3. My Favorite Tee Dress

4. Maternity Jeans Conversion

5. Mismatched Maxi Skirt

6. Vintage Trimmed Onesies

7. Boxy Pleat Dress

8. Crib Sheet

9. Hint of Vintage Maxi Dress

10. Denim Quilt

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We are so grateful for all of you who read our blog!  

We always read and cherish every comment - they truly make all the hard work worth it.  Every time we hear about someone using one of our tutorials to make their own creation.. it makes us so happy.  Thank you for all of your support.  It means everything.

Hope you have had a wonderful holiday season and best wishes for 2013! 

Merry Christmas!

We've decided to take this week off to spend time with our families!

We hope that this week is filled with tradition, love, and the joy that this Christmas season brings.

Merry Christmas from both of us at iCandy!

Violette Fields Pattern Super Holiday Giveaway WINNER!

We are so excited to announce the winner of the 

Violette Fields Patterns 

Super Holiday GIVEAWAY!  

Such a fun Christmas present for......

Amyann6December 3, 2012 2:05 PM

Followed Violette fields on facebook!

Contact us within the week to claim your prize!

(iCandy) Felt Tree

When I first saw this idea on Pinterest, I thought it was brilliant.  It was one of the first on my list of Christmas things to do this month.  

I bought some felt (and used some of my existing stash) and went to town.

P.S. My wall doesn't lean in real life.  

Boy my kids have fun with this! 

Aaron likes to take everything off and make a huge mess all over the kitchen floor. Emily likes to carefully decorate it.  She made it look really nice for the picture. 

It definitely adds a bit of Christmas cheer to an otherwise boring little wall in my kitchen.

Oh- I attached it to the wall with flat white thumb tacks that I colored in with sharpies to match the felt colors.

(tutorial) Flat Glass Marble Tree

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Check out our review of Covergirl Blast Flipstick 

and enter to win a $100 Visa Gift Card!

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One of my favorite Christmas decorations I remember from my childhood was this jeweled Christmas tree that hung on the wall.  It was framed, and the jewels and lights were on a dark green velvet background.  It was totally 70's old-school.

So last year, I decided to make a more modern version of the tree from my memory.  

The process was one disaster after another, and well, I never finished it.

The last straw happened when the frame didn't fit on it. 

I put it away in frustration.

This year, with fresh perspective, I was able to finally finish it.

(This is why I stick with sewing- I am much more comfortable with fabric!)

Between last year and this year, I actually forgot all about it.  

When we were decorating the house at the beginning of this month, I found it in one of the bins.  I peeled back the fabric (which was really hard, I used some mean glue!) and had my husband saw off the excess mdf that caused the frame to not fit.  

Then I glued the fabric back down.  

I put it on the wall, and plugged it in.  

UH OH! It didn't light up! I almost cried.  

With my last bit of hope, I started twisting the lights (on the back) 

in hopes that the string would light up.  AND IT DID! Whew.  

Who knows how many hours this thing took me? 

Over the space of TWO Christmases.  Ha!

This is how I made it:

1. I drew a tree design on the back of some MDF cut by Home Depot (Make sure you cut the right size, unlike me!)

2. I marked where I wanted the lights to go.

3. I drilled holes for the lights.

4. I wrapped the front of the MDF in fabric and glued it down in the back.

5. I used a dowel to poke the holes through the fabric.

6. I glued flat glass marbles (on the front side) into a tree shape around the holes for the lights.

7. I used a short strand of lights, and inserted the lights into the holes.  I hot-glued them into place on the the front and back.

8. I painted a frame red.

9. I painted strips of wood and glued them on the back of the frame so the light strands don't get smashed.

10. I glued the fabric covered board into the frame.

I really like my modern-throwback Christmas tree!  

It looks so pretty up on my wall.

And I'm pretty sure I am never going to make anything like it again.

;)

(iCandy) Drop-Cloth Tree Skirt

Hey Guys!

Boy, this month, or last couple of months is absolutely flying by me!  I can't believe that Christmas is in a handful of days!  sheesh.

I've been busy working on multiple projects all at once {isn't that how the holiday season works?} Crazy.

Anyway, the ONE thing that I wanted to get done this year for Christmas was to get a tree skirt.  I've never had a tree skirt.  Most of the time, we just wrap some fabric around the base of the tree and call it a skirt.  2012 was the year, though.  I started scouting around Pinterest to find the one that I wanted...I found a few that I liked...but then I even contemplated buying one because I've been so busy!

Finally, I found {this one} on shanty-2-chic.

pretty easy...do-able.

done!

Her tutorial was great... really great!

Here are a couple extra things I did...or things that I wondered about!

1.) I didn't have a tree skirt to trace...but I did have an outdoor vinyl tablecloth for my circle patio table.  I laid that under my tree...and the size was perfect.  So I used that for my template (including the hole!)

2.) I cut my ruffle at 4.5 inches.  (she didn't mention how thick her ruffle was).  You can gauge how thick you'd like yours, but 4.5 was a good number for me!

3.) I serged around all of my edges, and like she did, I did a black rolled-hem on the ruffle.

4.) Lastly, I added the wordage around the edge of my skirt...I love it!...just using that good ole freezer paper method.  

voila!

 And now onto last minute preparations!

Basic Bodice Design Series: Alida Makes

Today we are excited to introduce our friend Alida from Alida Makes.  

She is sharing a very cool tutorial for our

We were in the same season of Project Run & Play with her and love her creations.

I am sure you have seen this fabulous women's top floating around Pinterest:

How about this adorable wool jacket she made for her daughter?

She has some great practical tutorials and even stuff for baby.

 Head on over to her blog and check it out!

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Hey y'all!  I'm Alida from Alida Makes and I'm so excited to be here!  Today I've taken a basic bodice and dressed it up with a fun sash that ties into an asymmetrical bow.  For the basic bodice and dress construction I used THIS TUTORIAL by Lindsey Wilkes of the Cottage Home. 

Here is how you modify it:

Hem the dress, then make the sash into a bow:

Now you have a dress worthy of a family portrait!  Thanks for having me!  I have many more fun tutorials at Alida Makes HERE.

Last-Minute Stocking-Stuffer Deals

Are you still looking for some last-minute ideas for stocking stuffers? We found some great deals for you or your man! P&G has some great e-Deals going on right now on their site.  They are featuring product bundles with discounts and free shipping rates that we thought we'd share.  
Here's the skinny on their offers:

-15% off on a first-time order from a new customer, using promo code: A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA

-Free Shipping on orders over $25

-Free Samples with every order.

Here are our picks:

For You:

Crest Whitestrips

Pick from a variety of whitestrip options {click here for details and pricing}

or...I always expect to get my favorite mascara in my stocking, so why not try

Cat Eye:  LashBlast Volume Mascara

{click here for colors and pricing}

or...

we thought this looked really cool, and plan on trying it out ourselves:

Cat Eye: CoverGirl LiquilineBlast Eye Liner 

(the intensity of a liquid...in pencil form!  genius!)

{click here for details and pricing}

AND

For Him:

Gillette Styler + Bonus Febreze Car Vent Clip

(this just might be what you need to make date nights in his car more bearable!)  {click here for details}

or...fill up his whole stocking in one easy click:

Gillette Styler + Bonus Details Magazine & Shave Gel

{click here for that awesome bundle}

We hope these ideas make your shopping easier!

(iCandy) The Parfait Dress by Emily

A while back, I shared this post as part of Me Sew Crazy's K.I.D.S. Series.
Here it is, in case you didn't see it over there.
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I have a six-year old daughter.  Her name is Emily,  She loves to draw, and she has been known in the past to draw outfits that she "wants."  So for the first time, she actually did get something she drew!  

Emily, since the age of 2, has been very selective and opinionated about her clothes.  She wouldn't touch jeans until skinny jeans were popular, and of course now they are the only ones she will wear.  There have been several things that I have made her over the years that she never wore... but I am starting to learn my lesson.  Now she collaborates with me on the design/fabric before I make anything for her.

I really had no idea what she would come up with for this challenge.  I handed her a piece of paper, and told her to use her markers.  This is what she came up with:

*ok...I cheated a bit, because the first version was kelly green and white stripes...not my favorite...

so I gently suggested another color combo and this was the next version.*

Isn't it shocking that she drew stripes? Ha! 

Well she is my daughter after all...

At first, I was super excited, because I have a thrifted knit black and white striped adult tunic waiting for a refashion, so how easy would that be?   But no.  The stripes had to be as wide as the cable box.  That was her unit of measurement.  Ok.  So I dug into my fabric stash and found some kona cotton - ivory and black.  I guess I was going to piece the stripes.

I sewed those strips together, and used the bodice pattern I created for my Sailing into Autumn dress, paired with an A-line skirt.  

Because I didn't want to see any seams, I lined the whole thing with leftover sheet material from this dress.

Boy, getting the stripes to line up perfectly is MUCH harder to do with cotton than knit!  

(Mine did NOT line up perfectly!)

She wanted a flower on a belt.  As I was finishing the dress up at 11pm, I decided to use one of her existing skinny belts and just add the flower as a pin.  That way she can wear any belt, with or without the flower.

The flower was made similar to this felt flower, but using fabric and sewing, instead of glue gun.  For each layer, I just ironed on some heat 'n' bond to the back of fabric, and bonded a second layer of fabric.  

So it is nice and stiff, and won't fray very much.

I added a subtle trim to the neckline, sleeves and hem to finish it off.

I asked her what she would call this dress.  She mentioned zebras, then said, "no! ice cream."  Thus the name.

I think we are both happy with the way it turned out.