cowgirl t-shirt dress

Ruby is a funny little girl.  She will give you sweet hugs one minute and tackle you to the ground the next.  She is freakishly strong and has no fear.  But she also loves the girly girl stuff.

T-shirt dresses are kind of perfect for her because she can still run around feeling pretty while having the freedom to play.  There are lots of tutorials around blogland for t-shirt dresses, so I'm not going to post one here.  But just to sum it up, you cut a t-shirt to the desired length and add a skirt - easy as pie.  I actually made the top part using Made by Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern.  The skirt is just the width of the fabric (cut to 15 inches long, I think?) and gathered to fit the skirt.  I added a waistband sash at the last minute, and it made the dress.

The fabric for the skirt is a western print by Samantha Walker called Saddle Up (in gray).  I was really tempted to add a matching horse silhouette to the t-shirt top, because Samantha Walker also designs for Silhouette, but decided to leave it off.  It would be fun to do in the future though!  Kind of opens up a new door of possibilities, being able to match heat transfers exactly to fabric prints ...

Giddy-up.

father's day idea: desktop planter

Need a last-minute Father's Day idea?  How about a desktop planter?

We got together with friends today to make these easy succulent planters for Father's Day.   Start with a simple container and fill it with a layer of rocks (for drainage), soil, a few small plants and wood chips or more decorative rocks to top. 

I printed small pictures of the kids (about 2 inches tall), laminated them so they wouldn't get wet, stuck them on a toothpick and hid those little sweeties among the plants.  I think it will make a cute addition to daddy's office.

Oscar loves gardening, thanks to his awesome Aunt Holly, so he was all over this project.  Although, I think he would have filled the vase to the top with rocks, had we let him.

We've been participating in Summer Camp Adventure Club for June, and this week's theme is Growing & the Outdoors.   Just for fun, my friend Sonja bought a tub of ladybugs at the nursery today and we released them into her garden ... all 1,500 of them!   The kids were (mostly) delighted, and we mamas thought it was a lot of fun.  

The Summer Camp Adventure Club is wonderful and has been keeping us so busy.  I'll show you more of what we've been up to towards the end of the month.  In the meantime, you should check it out!  July is quickly approaching, and there will be new themes and new fun to be had.

leaf print shirts at Skip to my Lou Craft Camp

School's out for summer, and you know what that means ... Craft Camp has started at Skip to my Lou! Today you'll find me there with instructions for making your own Leaf Print Shirts.  Oscar and I had a lot of fun doing this together.

Looking for more crafts to keep the kids busy?  Check out my previous Craft Camp posts, DIY Rhythm Instruments and Homemade Playdough.