Revamping my Toms

Ok, so I'm probably a bit late to the party. I got my first pair of Toms about a year and a half ago at Christmas when I was pregnant with our third baby. I guess you know you're in your 30's when you decide to jump on a trend after its gone mainstream.

Anyways, I'm pretty sure that I wore my Toms just about everyday of my pregnancy, and though they are comfortable, they're really not the most durable shoes.

Here I am pregnant again with our fourth little bundle of joy, and I desperately want to wear my Toms. However, they have these giant toe holes that make me look like a hobo.

I didn't want to spend $50 bucks on another pair of shoes that I knew would inevitably fall apart. So I did what any self respecting penny pinching mom would do. I found some tutorials about how to repair your Toms. This one from Under the Sycamore was my favorite.

1. First, I threw my Toms in the washing machine and ran it on gentle cycle. I let them air dry.

2. Then, I used some iron on jeans patches to close up the offending holes in my shoes. In the process I accidentally burned part of the soles with my iron but you can't really tell.

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3. I used my sewing machine to sew a small seam in the fabric I used to cover the toes so that it mimicked the seam already found on the shoes.

4. I cut my fabric and attached it to the front of the shoes using fabric glue. I made sure to make front folds on the toes to match the original folding on the shoe.  

5. Unfortunately the fabric glue didn't hold as well as I hoped it would, so after the glue dried, I added a few hand stitches to keep everything in place near the soles.

But here is the finished project...I think if I had it to do over again, I would use older thinner fabric from the thrift store. The age of the fabric would make it match better with the wear on my Toms.

 I chose an upholstery fabric this time because I thought it would be more durable, but a thin fabric would have been easier to glue. They're not perfect but they look a whole lot better than they did when they were holey! I'll definitely be rockin' these bad boys until the baby gets here.

Summer Centers: The Beans Edition

All I can say is that its HOT here in Charleston! I have some little boys who love to play outside, but during the heat of the day even they don't want to venture out. I was just letting them run around the house and play after lunch time, but the screaming, the gigantic mess, and general chaos started getting to me.

I'm not super crafty or anything, but I thought maybe I could come up with something to keep them occupied and learning something constructive. So, with the help of Pinterest, I've been coming up with four learning centers we can work on everyday for a week before I change them out.  I try to gather all necessary materials on Sunday night. During the week, I get my boys to clean them up before nap time everyday so that the whole thing isn't too labor intensive for me. 

They love it! This week our theme was beans (kinda weird I know). Our first center was a bean sorting station. I filled a jar halfway full with beans of different colors. I got out a muffin tin and let the boys sort the beans together. By the end of the week they knew the names of all our beans-- kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, and white beans.

Our second center was a craft where they spelled one letter of their names each day with cardboard, glue, and beans. We do a good deal of our grocery shopping at Costco, so I cut up some boxes we had hanging around to make a good sturdy base for the letters. We're planning to hang those on the wall in their bedroom when they are finished.

 Our third center was a sensory bucket filled with beans. I added some measuring cups and spoons and let them go to town. I was surprised by how much the boys loved this station. They loved running their fingers through the beans and pretending to cook meals for one another.

Our fourth and final center was buttoning and zipping station. I let them dress up in some of Daddy's clothes while they learn to zip and button. I figure if we can learn these little practical lessons soon enough Mama won't have to help them get dressed!

 Getting through all the centers takes about 30 minutes to an hour each day depending on how 'into it' they are. I thought maybe by the end of the week, I could let them rotate independently while I did laundry or cleaned house but that never worked out. My four year old could probably work through them independently, but my two year old definitely needs me there to keep him on task. They also just enjoy spending the time doing an activity with me. Even if both my older boys are engaged in their activities, my baby boy is crawling around on the floor trying to eat fallen beans. I was constantly scooping him up to prevent death by choking. 

The challenge for me is to find activities that both of my boys can enjoy while also being able to modify them for their different skill levels. Do you have any fun ideas for Summer Centers? I'd love to hear about them!! 

Kids Crafts: Easy Shaker Drums

Materials:

• Construction Paper
• Paint
• Empty Oatmeal Canisters
• Dried Beans
• Yarn (optional)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Laminating Machine (optional)
• Laminating Envelopes (optional)
  
  
  
  
  

This is a fun and easy craft for toddlers and preschoolers. I came up with the idea for these little gems just by rounding up all the craftable household items I had on hand.

Maybe its just me but crafting with my boys can get a bit chaotic at times, especially when they're excited. So in order to minimize my personal stress level I made this a two-day project.

Day One:

  Let your child or children finger paint a few pieces of construction paper. I put my boys out on the screen porch with their painting aprons on, and they had a blast. After they were done I laid their masterpieces out to dry.

Day Two:

During nap time, I laminated one of their paintings. This step is totally optional but I wanted to add a bit of durability to the drum. When my boys woke up I let them throw a few handfuls of dried beans into their drums. They had a great time playing with the beans. I just made sure that none of them made it into their mouths.

Next, I cut two long pieces of yarn so the drums could be worn around the neck. Insert the two ends of the yarn into the top of the canister and hot glue the whole thing shut. Using the yarn is also totally optional. The neck straps didn't last long at my house, so I think they may be more trouble than they're worth.

Finally, I cut the paper to size and hot glued it to the outside of the oatmeal canisters. The paper didn't cover the entire circumference of the canister so I used the sliver I cut off the bottom to close in the gap. In retrospect I should have just used the gap as a place to write their names, or let them decorate the space with stickers.

Let the shaker drum dry. Then sit back and enjoy watching your kiddos run around shaking and pounding on their homemade treasures!

Weekend Sewing: Scoop Top Tissue Tee

Its a funny thing... now that I have three little ones its become harder for me to pack them up and go out on the town. Instead of being boring and depressing I'm finding that staying home more has its advantages. I've been able to take  time to do some of the creative projects I've been putting off. I'm experiencing a Mommy Renaissance of sorts (I mean I'm finally finding time to blog again).
 A few weekends ago I was able to pull together this simple tissue t-shirt while my sweet hubby kept our boys happy and occupied. I found this free pattern on the Britex Fabrics Blog. The pattern is a size small/medium but I think you could easily add a few inches here and there if you need a bigger size. I would highly recommend this pattern. The directions are simple and straight-forward and the resulting t-shirt is very forgiving which is great for this mom, since I'm dealing with a fairly new postpartum body. The only thing I struggled with was sewing the neckline hem. I couldn't get the length exactly right but I think it came out pretty decent. Let me know if you attempt this project!