Tea Party! and Repurposing

This is kind of a long post as I've combined 2 of my recent fun things into one post. So, keep reading and bear with me! Last year, for my birthday, I got a new sewing machine! It's come in very handy in recent months, as I've found myself having to alter and repair A LOT of clothing for my family! With Karlo's work being so hit and miss we just cannot afford new clothes and unfortunately, I LOVE new clothes. For me, for the kids, even for my hubby, who is really no fun to dress because all he likes are jeans and t-shirts! I was whining to Mom about how expensive clothes are and she told me she used to make a lot of our clothes when we were kids. But, now-a-days, to buy the fabric to make something is usually more expensive than just buying it new(except when you find good fabrics on clearance). I'm also a big bargain shopper and have become addicted to the Other Mother's Quarter Sale held once a month near my home. I've gotten some great things there including toys and MANY articles of clothing that have only required minor repairs or alterations to make them work! So, as I was repairing and taking things in for my skinny Abbie, I started to think that I just might have the talent to make some of the cool things I've been wanting and seeing on other blogs and websites that I follow. I started out with some simple things.... I paid almost $6 for a Binky saver that BROKE within the first few weeks of use! So, I decided to make my own. I bought 4 metal clips and 2 rolls of ribbon at the craft store for about $3-$4 and made these way cuter Binky savers that have just been awesome(If I do say so myself)! Then I got a little braver and decided to re-purpose a plain boring long sleeve tee that I hadn't worn in a while into this super cute 3/4 sleeve, in-style right now, corsage tee! Now I wear it all the time and it didn't cost me anything more than what I already paid for the shirt a year or so ago! Then I gained even more confidence in my abilities! My girls LOVE dresses! Abbie will wear pants too, but Kallie has to be forced or have a really good reason to wear pants. She wants skirts and dresses EVERY DAY! So, Amber had a bunch of skirts that she was getting rid of so I took them and decided to use them for dresses for the girls! The black and white one was made for Abbie from a t-shirt and an old nightgown and Kallie's was made from a t-shirt and an old skirt and they are well loved by both girls! These next 2 dresses were a little trickier to do and a lot more frustrating, but, I think, they turned out super cute and once again didn't cost me a thing and the girls LOVE them! These are their "ruffle dresses"!

I do have to add that all of my creations have minor flaws in one or more places and I'm OK with that! I'm not the greatest of seamstresses and if anyone is looking that closely they really might have some problems that need addressed! HAHA!

Anyway, on to my next project! One of my friends blogged awhile ago about making these really awesome cake platters from things found at second hand stores or garage sales and I LOVED the idea. So I scoured some local thrift stores until I found what I wanted. I love to have parties and entertain and I thought these would come in handy at some point and they did! I used them at a SUPER FUN "Tea Party" that Kallie and I had a few weeks ago!(That's the next part of my post.)

Kallie has been pretty bored this year with Abbie in school ALL DAY now and I don't always have the time to play with her like she would like. So, we decided to invite her friends and their moms(and little sisters) to our house for a Princess Tea Party! Amber(the most awesome scrapbooker in the world) helped us make the cutest invitations and we hand delivered most of them. In the end we had about a dozen little girls, all dressed in their finest ball gowns, to our "lovely home" for a Tea Party!

This is how we set up for our girls! We even found little plastic tea cups at the dollar store 8cups/$1! Then Kallie decorated them with flower stickers and we had flower plates and napkins!

This was our food table! We made Pink lemonade for the girls and Italian Sodas for the Moms. Kallie requested strawberry(pink) cupcakes with Pink and white frosting and we made little flower cupcake toppers to stick in them. We also had little cucumber sandwiches and fruit with a yummy fruit dip.

Everyone had a great time and all the little princesses were so cute!

Especially this one(Rylee Call)....

And.... Our Hostess... Kallie Grace!

Well, this post is finally finished! I hope you enjoyed the update to our life and until next time....