A Sweater for Bruiser!

Earlier this month we got Bruiser, a Boston Terrier puppy.  Bruiser was just a little thing when we got him and he shivered every time he went outside.  Potty training a puppy in December is not my idea of a good time.  Apparently, Bruiser agrees.  He doesn't like the cold and prefers to leave me "presents" in the corners of my living room.  {Good thing we have wood floors.}  Being the problem solver I am I got right to work crocheting a sweater for our little pooch.

Boston Terrier Crochet Sweater

I promise, he really is thrilled about it.

I made this up as I went, so I'm sorry I can't provide an exact pattern.  {I learned to crochet watching YouTube tutorials.  What can I say?}  If you would like for me to describe how I created this sweater please leave a comment below and I'll do my best.

Boston Terrier Puppy Crochet Sweater Back

Boston Terrier Puppy Crochet Sweater Belly

Boston Terrier Puppy Crochet Sweater 2

Now all we need is snow!

Happy Birthday Little R!

Life at Feathers and Fingerprints has been crazy busy!  I have so many crafty things waiting to be shared!  First on the list is a birthday celebration for my son!

A couple weeks ago Little R turned 3!

Being the lazy busy mom I am, I sent out an invitation via email.  Some family came to town to celebrate so we kept the party super small.  That makes an email invitation acceptable, right?  I made this invite using the iPad app Red Stamp.  If you don't have this app you must go download it now!  It is a wonderful app for making and sharing cards for every occasion.  Red Stamp will even print and mail your cards for you!  How sweet is that?

Transportation Theme Birthday Cake

This was Little R's first birthday as a VanZant.  I was so excited to finally get to make a little boy's birthday cake!  We chose a transportation theme and bought a new dump truck and back hoe for the cake.  Little R kept pointing at his cake all morning wanting to play with the trucks!

Construction Theme Birthday Cake

I sent my husband to the store late the night before to get small trucks for the cake.  He brought these home, not realizing they have batteries and make noise.  No big deal, except when I washed all the icing off I must have gotten the inside of one of the trucks wet.  After everyone was asleep that night I kept hearing BEEP BEEP BEEP rumble rumble coming from the living room.  (Imagine the beeping noise of a truck backing up and the rumbling of heavy machinery.)    Did I mention the broken truck was hidden somewhere under the furniture and only sounded when I was out of the room?  I didn't find the crazy thing till the next morning...

Overall, Little R's birthday was a big success.  I'm looking forward to many more little boy birthdays!

Happy Birthday Little R!

A Rockin' Dragon

For Christmas my husband Ryan built a rocking horse for our horse-obsessed girls.  He also built a similar rocking horse for our little nieces.

Homemade Rocking Horse

He promised our nephew in Indiana he would build a rocking dragon before our next trip out to see him, whenever that might be.  {My nephew is obsessed with dragons the way my girls are obsessed with horses.}  My father-in-law ended up driving to Oklahoma to meet our son a couple weeks ago so Ryan had a promise to fulfill!  Here are some pictures of the rocking dragon we sent back with Grandpa.

Homemade Rocking Dragon

Ryan altered the original design of the horse by adding teeth, claws, and a dragon tail.  Instead of a yarn mane he added "spikes" made from vinyl.

Homemade Rocking Dragon

We heard the dragon safely made the long drive to its new home and is being enjoyed by its new owner.

Trees Don't Wear Skirts!

"Tree's don't wear skirts!"  At least that's what my three year old daughter told me when she asked what I was working on a few weeks ago.  I was covered in hot glue and burlap fuzz constructing a new skirt for our Christmas tree.

My inspiration came from Pinterest.  I was browsing one day and saw this pin.  

Source: doneoverdecor.blogspot.com via Katie on Pinterest

I followed the directions at Done Over Decor.  I hadn't planned for mine to look so Minnie Mouse like, but we're all big fans of Disney so I'm OK with it.

Ruffle Burlap Tree Skirt 1

I also hadn't planned on a furry new addition to the family.  Let me tell you, raw burlap edges and a young puppy aren't a good combination!  I've had to chase the puppy away many times and I'm forever picking up stray threads.

Ruffle Burlap Tree Skirt 2

From this angle you can see the black felt base under my ruffles.  I used a large piece of black felt cut into a circle with a hole in the middle.  I think I found directions for making the base on Google.  I made mine fairly small since our trees are usually skinny.  I used hot glue to attach the fabric strips. By the way, hot glue and burlap are a horrible combination.  The glue oozed right through the burlap sticking to and burning all my poor fingers.  But regardless, the end product was worth the temporary discomfort.

Ruffle Burlap Tree Skirt 3

This is our tree.  Its a cedar my husband cut down.  Cedars are not good for the Oklahoma prairie so we have cut one down every Christmas for the past 5 years.  They aren't the prettiest trees but my husband is proud of his efforts to help the Oklahoma environment.  You can read more about cedars on the Pioneer Woman's blog.  

Ruffle Burlap Tree Skirt on Cedar Christmas Tree

Usually there is a recliner living in this corner of the house, hence the pictures hung high on the wall.  The United States map is another project I hope to share soon.

Here is our new puppy, Bruiser.  He is a white faced Boston Terrier.

Boston Terrier

I got a new DSLR camera for Christmas and Bruiser has been my test subject as I practice shooting in manual mode.

Boston Terrier Bokah

I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

And Then There Were Five

Yes, we are officially a family of FIVE!  Last month we went to court and finalized our adoption!  We are so happy!  

If you would like to know more about our adoption story please read Our Adoption Story Part One and Part Two.

How To Sew a Changing Table Pad Cover

I've been busy getting Little Brother's room ready.  Tonight I sewed a new cover for the changing table pad.  We have some very nice pink covers from Pottery Barn Kids.  I looked to them as a starting point, but altered my pattern to make the project easier. My cover is made from one large piece of fabric.  I used no-pill fleece from Hancock Fabrics.  My changing pad is a standard contour pad bought at Target about five years ago.

Add 

Changing Table Pad Cover Pattern

I started by cutting out my fabric.

I sewed together the cutout edges, right sides together. (Working at night my lighting isn't the best so the color is a little off!)

Then I folded and pinned a generous hem of 1.5 inches.  This is so the elastic will fit inside the hem.

When I stitched the edges I left the sides open (between the pink pins) to insert the elastic.

My stitches were an inch from the edge to leave room for the elastic.

I used two elastic bands, each 22 inches long.  

I pinned one end of the elastic and threaded it through the hem.

 Then I stitched both ends down.  Last, I closed the open hem.

Changing Table Pad Cover Tutorial

Finished!

Changing Table Pad Cover

This project was very easy and took about an hour total.  I hope to whip out a few more covers this week!

Taking Care of Business

Hi Feathers and Fingerprints readers!  I'm sorry for the long absence of posts.  Life got pretty hectic for a while between adding a third child to the family and changing jobs!  I left first grade after 7 years to teach gifted and talented education.  It has been a huge change but I am so glad I took the leap!  

Now that life is starting to settle into a routine again I'm finally getting around to showing you the finishing touches in the hall bathroom project!  To be honest, we spent so much time in the bathroom this summer potty training our 2 year old that I had no interest in blogging about it!

Let me remind you where we started.  You can read more about the reno here, here, and here, and see the last reveal here.

Hall Bathroom Before

Finally we have a shower curtain and towel bar!  The shower curtain came from Home Goods and the towel bar came from Ikea.  I picked up both items while traveling this summer.  Unfortunately, we don't have either store in my home state.  I sure wish Home Goods would come to Oklahoma...

Tree Shower Curtain

The towel bar fits our needs perfectly.  It provides plenty of hooks for towels and swimsuits.  I hung it low enough that the kids can hang their wet items on their own.  And the price was insanely cheap so I'll have no regrets if I want to replace it with something nicer later.

Bathroom Towel Bar Hooks

Next, the mirror got an upgrade.  We reused the original mirror and made a frame from wood trim.  There are many tutorials on the web if you search.  The frame was a cheap and easy way to add character to the room.

Bathroom Framed Mirror

And, because I love the frame around the mirror so much, why not add one around the toilet paper dispenser?  I've never been a fan of the built in toilet paper holder.  I wanted my husband to rip it out and fix the drywall when he was repairing the other walls.  Unfortunately, I forgot to mention it.  Oops.  So, crazy thought, lets fix this eyesore by framing it.  I think it totally worked.

Toilet Paper Dispenser Frame

There you have it!  My finished bathroom!

Thanks to our hard work, creativity, and careful planning, this entire renovation was completed for under $1000.  That's some serious budget DIY! 

What projects do you have going on?

Hand Stamped Jewelry

About a month ago I bought a set of metal alphabet stamps to make a necklace for my mother-in-law.  I posted a picture of the finished necklace on facebook and soon had many requests to make more!  A couple of these were custom made Mother's Day gifts for new moms and grandmas or end-of-the-school-year gifts.  Here are some pictures of my work!

In the beginning I did a lot of practicing to get my letters and words spaced even and straight.  It also took some experimenting to find the best stamping set-up.  I started on the wood workbench in the garage, but learned fast that the workbench was absorbing a lot of the vibrations from hammering and I wasn't getting a deep enough stamp.  So I moved to the garage cement floor and got better results with less hammer strikes. 


I have many more ideas I can't wait to try so I'm sure another post is yet to come!