Ocean Jewel Shirt

I call this shirt "Ocean Jewel".  I bought the fabric at Walmart (a remnant I believe, and a couple of fat quarters).  This was my second VFT Clara, but up a size from my first.  It fits her much better!  The ruffles took some time--and they always do--but they're always worth it! I added two shiny emerald buttons for that extra special somthin'.  She'll actually wear this shirt, yay! I love this adorable shirt!
 Also, I made the green leggings from VFT's Piper legging pattern.  They are super quick and easy to sew up.  And green is such a hard color to find! It seems one can only find massed-produced leggings in black, white, pink, and purple, and sometimes an aqua blue.  Other colors such as red, yellow, green, and orange and next to impossible to find--they have to be specially ordered online and cost 3-4X as much.  Thankfully, I probably only paid $3-4 for the green knit fabric (at Joanns, and its actually a nice weight, not to thin or thick!) and not too much of a time investment!

Easy Hearts of Te Fiti

Okay, not exactly sewing, or even sewing-related, but I thought these hearts of Te Fiti were too cute to not share!
I made these as pinata stuffers/party favors for my daughter's birthday party.  Her theme was obviously Moana, and so I figured I should make something to go along with that theme--Hearts of Te Fiti were perfect!  I was originally thinking of making the hearts with polymer clay, or spray painting river stones.  But, as it happened, I was strolling through Walmart and came across some green glass gem stones in the home decor aisle.  They were $1.  I figured I could try drawing the swirl onto the gem with a green permanent marker.  And violá! It worked! The marker showed up well and didn't rub off!  FYI- the heart of Te Fiti is a swirl with some other (seemingly) random markings.  The small gems and the marker tip didn't allow for an exact replica of all of the details in the heart, so I just did the swirl (that's all anyone even remembers about the heart anyway) and a couple random markings just to give the impression that the heart isn't just a swirl. The girls LOVED the hearts of Te-Fiti! They were such a big hit! And as an added bonus, the gems "glow" when you put them up to the light, just like the real one!  An extra girl showed up to the party, and her mom asked if she could have a Te Fiti heart.  I didn't have any extra, so I made another one for her right there on the spot. It took all of of 30 seconds to make it!

So there you have it--a cheap, quick and easy Heart of Te-Fiti.  Hey, even if you just need one, it's still only $1!

 A back of gems and a permanent green marker is all you need!  Also, there were shiny gems and dull gems in the bag.  I used the dull gems.