100 Follower Giveaway

NOW CLOSED

To celebrate 100 followers, we're having a little giveaway!

Müsli Mouse is a handmade jewelry boutique, and one of you will get to choose something(s) up to $16. There's some really cute stuff there!

To enter (and you should because, come on, your odds of winning are pretty good):

- If you haven't already, become a follower!
- Visit the Müsli Mouse Etsy shop and then leave a comment telling us what you will pick if you win
That's it!

Extra entries:
- Post the giveaway on Fbook
-and/or on Twitter
-Pin the blog on Pinterest!

Button on Flowers

Three different looks for the price of one! I bought a onesie, sewed a button on one side, then made fabric/felt flowers that can be buttoned on and off to change the look.  This is an easy way to dress up a plain onesie or shirt.  Felt flowers are so easy to make, but you wouldn't want them going through the wash.  With these, you just take the flower off before washing! There are numerous tutorials for fabric and felt flowers out there.  Just make a flower you like, then cut a slit in the middle large enough to button it onto the shirt! I suppose you could make a sturdy button hole with a sewing machine, but the beauty of felt is that it wont fray if you just cut a slit for the button.

Dress the Bump (For Cheap)

Since I know we all love to be frugal and thrifty (cheap), I thought I'd share how I managed to stay clothed during my pregnancy on our itty bitty student budget. I found out very quickly that the selection of cute and affordable maternity clothes is slim pickins.

1 Let's start with the most obvious: stretchy stuff.
Anything with any amount of spandex is your new best friend. Especially jeans! I was able to stay in my normal pants for my whole pregnancy because they had a little stretch to them.

Just a normal, really stretchy top

2 When the jeans started getting a little too tight on the hips, I put a hair tie around the button, through the loop and back around the button for an extra inch of breathing room. If that was confusing, just Google "hair thing button extender". You'll find some really pretty images.

3 Buy a few flowy tops in the next size up. Let's be honest, a lot of "maternity" tops are just normal baggy tops. And if you want to keep the whole belly covered (for the sake of everyone around you, please do) shirts need to be a few inches longer than normal. Obv.

Exhibit A: $5 Old Navy Clearance, one size bigger

 

Exhibit B: $12 Express clearance, normal size, just a loose fit

4 Raid your husband's closet. Ok I did this before I was pregnant, but his clothes looked much less manly on my pregnant bod. I would dress up one of his casual button-ups with a cardigan and scarf since it was winter time. I even had my bank teller say "You dress really well.. I mean for a pregnant lady." Quasi compliment? I'll take it.

Sydney did it too, so it must be cool

5 If you do get actual maternity clothes, go for basics. You can wear basic tees many different ways and they won't be "so 2012" if you want to use them for later pregnancies. I wore these two $5 Old Navy tops at least once a week because when you're this big, you just want to be comfortable!

6 Wear slutty dresses as tops. You know the ones, the $3 Ross clearance kind that remain unsold to all who wish to guard their carnal treasure. Well, turns out they work great as maternity tops. Sadly I never got a picture to prove it. But if you're having no luck in the shirts section take a gander at dresses.

 7 Make stuff! Even though I was really busy, I found time to make a few simple tops and a dress. This blog has a lot of great, easy ideas and it's also where I got some sewing patterns to make this dress.

And if all else fails, throw on a baggy t-shirt and some sweat pants. You deserve it.

Wedding Dress #2

My husband's good friend liked my wedding dress, and commissioned me to make hers. She wanted something simple, with a vintage feel to fit her carnival themed wedding.
This was the photo she showed me for inspiration:

Here are Courtney's bridals. I found some great ruffled material, and suggested we use it for the skirt to add some texture and contrast.

I am really happy with the final product, and excited that I managed to make an entire wedding dress without smearing some sort of food/chocolate on it. I love finding bargains, and was able to get all of the fabric and notions for about $100. Booyah.

More Fondant Cakes

Rainbow Cake

I made this for a friend's daughter's birthday. I frosted it with butter cream, then cut out fondant hearts in every color of the rainbow and put them on in a diagonal pattern.  I just free-handed the letters using fondant. For the rainbow and number on top, I used gum paste. The inside was also a different color of the rainbow for each layer.  Unfortunately, they didn't take a picture after it was cut.

Paris Cake

I did this one for another friend's daughter.  For the Eiffel Tower, I printed an image I found online, cut it out, layed it on some gum paste and cut around it for the basic shape.  I then colored all the black markings with an edible marker.  The number and name plate are also gum paste. My friend Melanie created an adorable dessert table for the party...