Rebekah's First Sewing Machine Lesson

A few days ago I gave Rebekah her first sewing machine lesson.  She really wanted to use some felt that she got for Christmas, and she saw an older girl hand sewing a simple purse a while ago.  So, she asked if we could make a purse out of her felt.  Permission granted.  I tried to have her hand sew it at first, but it was difficult, so we went to the machine.  I showed her how it worked, then had her push the foot petal while I helped her hold it in the right position.  She was so excited to be able to use the machine!!!  Now Caleb is begging too!  We just folded a piece of felt in half, sewed two sides of it, and then sewed on a ribbon handle.  Simple and quick, a perfect first project.  She still needs to learn a lot about the sewing machine to be able to use it herself, but I think I'll enjoy that teaching time!

Embellishing a Plain Girl's Dress

In order to get Rebekah dresses that are long enough, sometimes we buy larger sizes (this is 1 size too big).  In this case, the neck line was too low for her, so I added some blue fabric.

Then I added a blue flower with button on the bottom to make it a bit more fun.  I love these knit dresses, they are so comfy and great for playing in!

Lace on the Bottom of Jean Skirt

I found this skirt at a garage sale for $1!  It was just a little bit on the short side, so I added this lace trim.  It really dresses it up nicely.  I think I paid $0.75 for the trim at a thrift store, and I used an old linen shirt for the fabric under the lace.  Total cost = $1.75

Flower Pot Wreath

This is what I gave my mom for Mother's Day this year.  I think it turned out really cute, although I wish I would have used blue instead of purple, since I just noticed my mom had a few things painted blue in her yard!

I found the idea on joann.com.  I had a hard time finding all the supplies, maybe because I didn't go to JoAnn's!  Walmart didn't have any clay pots at all, I ended up finding them at the Dollar Tree, which only had one size.  I bought a metal wire wreath and moss at Walmart, as well as the paint.  I already had the wire on hand.  My kids helped me paint the pots, and then we sprayed them with varnish.  I wired (had to paint the wire too) and hot glued the pots to the wreath.  Then I hot glued the moss to the wire wreath that was exposed, which made a huge difference!  That's it!  It took longer to paint the pots than expected, but that was probably due to my helpers...  Below is a pic of the back.

Flower Birthday Cake

Another birthday cake for my niece.  I hope she loves it!