Christmas Lights Coordinated to Music

When coming home from shopping we stumbled across amazing coordination of Christmas lights set to match music (it was set to a radio station with Christmas music you could tune into on your radio.

T-Shirt to Solar Dress (with link to free pattern)

This fun little casual summer dress was made using a free pattern by Charity Beasley at Indietutes using a thrift t-shirt will be perfect for the dog days of Summer on a little girl.

It was easy to make; I completed it while watching a television show that lasted an hour.

Items used:

• T-Shirt 
• Bias tape (under 1 package)
• Elastic
• Scraps of fabric for the pockets
• Sewing machine & thread
• Tracing wheel and tracing paper
• Interfacing (optional)
• Straight Pins 
• Free printable pattern and instructions from  Indietutes  (Pattern has sizes 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7)

As the complete instructions are on  Indietutes  website, I didn't take picture to repeat here, but as a t-shirt was used instead of fabric, I folded the t-shirt in half and placed the pattern as close to the neckline as possible and made sure the image on the front was centered.  I used a size Large T-Shirt for a 7/8 dress. For smaller sizes you might want to use a smaller t-shirt or one with a smaller image.

For the pocket placement, I used tracing paper on the of the fabric to mark them.

For the pockets, I used interfacing and also lined the pockets on so they will not stretch out and provide stability before pinning them to the right side of fabric and stitching down.

Tank Top to Summer Dress Refashion

This is a simple refashion of a tank top to a summer dress for Dress A Girl Around The World and inspired by tutorials on that blog.

Items used:

• Tank Top
• 1 1/2 yards of fabric (for a girl's size 14 - 23 inches around - wider if a fuller skirt is desired)
• Thread
• Scissors
• Straight Pins
• 1/4 yard iron on interfacing  
• Iron 

To decide where to cut I folded the top in half then cut in the middle.

Turn inside out and cut a piece of interfacing approximately 3 inches wide and the length of the tank top on each side and iron on.  It is to help prevent the skirt from stretching out knit in the tank top.

For the skirt, I used the selvage edge as the bottom of the skirt so no need to hem it and measured up 28 inches and cut across.

Then added a gathering stitch 1/4 and 1/2 inch away from the top edge beginning 5/8 of in inch end on each side leaving long tails to be able to gather the fabric.

With right sides together, pin then stitch a seam down the back and pin the seam in the center in back then pin and gather then stitch 5/8 an inch away from the edge.   Turn right side out, clip any loose threads and your new tank dress is complete.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and happy crafting:)

DIY Crate and Barrell Spin Vase

This DIY cost almost nothing to make and the glossy see-through look makes the flowers look fresh.

I spotted this project on Dollar Store Crafts and the tutorial is on The Budget Decorator

Items I used were

• Empty clear glass jar 
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks (I used 3 1/2 sticks)

This is simple enough that an older child (with supervision) could make one and pick out some flowers to put it - the above bouquet was only $4 at our local Kroger.

You could use any clear glass container and a different shape could give it a more exotic looks, but I used an empty salsa jar with the label soaked off and then dried.  

I plugged in the glue gun and I started at the bottom of the jar about an inch up and held it in my left hand and the glue gun in my right and tilted it slightly on a desk and pressed the glue gun against the glass and pulled the trigger and started turning it applying the glue horizontally around the circumference of the jar until I got to the top.

Once the glue dried I finished applying the glue around the bottom of the jar and it was done.

After completing and seeing the results, I think it looks better where the glue was only lightly applied (at the bottom)  instead of more heavily (middle to the top).


Happy Crafting:)

Linking up to:

DIY Party at DIY Showoff

Dino 101: Dinosaur Paleobiology - Free Online Course Review

Picture from Flickr

I recently completed this free online cours e offered by the University of Alberta on Coursera and would recommend it to anyone interested in dinosaurs to get a brief overview of the different types, their extinction and evolution along with time lines and geography or even a home-schooling segment for students junior high age and up (there is the option to receive a Certificate of Achievement for a fee of around $49, but a time scheduled needs to be adhered to in completing quizzes).

While the course is currently over, they are offering it again in September 2014

I chose to take it as I have had a fascination with dinosaurs ever since seeing a traveling promotional display by Sinclair Oil of a Brontosaurus at a gas station in a nearby town as a very young child., which found out that it was a misclassification and is actually an Apatosaurus.    (There are more pictures and information about the Sinclair traveling exhibit from late '60-early 70's at Monster Bash News)

It was huge, I believe I read somewhere it was 70 feet long.   I just remember straining my neck to look up at it and from head to tail ti seemed to go on forever and I was afraid at first, but as my Mom said it was a plant-eater and it had a non-threatening looking face and then I became enthralled and for awhile was into all things dino.

When my son was young, he was into dinosaurs as well and we went to see a lecture by Richard Bakker, "The Dinosaur" man, who was also a technical advisor on the "Jurassic Park" films in the mid 1990's and I was surprised how much theories had changed since I was a kid and Bakker's hypothesis that dinosaurs were not cold blooded like reptiles, but warm blooded creatures.  I decided to take the course as I was curious as about learning more and what some of the updated theories might be and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It consists of 12 video lectures cut down into 3 to 5 different segments that are 5 to 20 minutes long and average probably around 11 minutes, so you don't have to commit to a major chunk of time and you can work at your own pace (if not seeking a certificate).   There are 5 question multiple choice quiz at the end of each lesson to test your knowledge, but if you get an answers wrong you have the opportunity to take the quiz one more time.

There are also interactives within the lectures, such as the Dinosaura tree where you match the picture of the dinosaur to their type and the hip type to their classification.  There is also where you can check out bones from a 3-D angle, a timeline and quizzes within the lectures that are meant to get you thinking what the correct answer might be, but are not part of any grading.  

I would suggest taking notes early on.   I didn't start until the 4th week and wished I had started earlier.  You really need to read and comprehend the material to pass the quizzes.  

There is also the opportunity to interact with the other students in the forums.  There were students as young as a 12 year old home-schooler to retired people.  Two of the retired people had completed the course within a few days.

So if you want to learn interesting information such as there is evidence that a T-Rex had feathers and it is thought that a meteor hitting Earth caused the extinction of the large dinosaurs but that we see whey evolved into in order to survive every day, I recommend checking out the course.