DIY: An Easy Baby Doll Carrier

This month was my little girl's 3rd birthday and part of her gift was a new baby doll that she named "Sari". Being the mama in me, I made my little girl's doll some tiny baby doll clothes, crocheted hats, and a baby doll carrier. Because, you know, they love to take their little baby doll with them wherever they go. Or when they play at the park and they climb around and stuff. Plus, a baby doll in a baby doll carrier is way too cute not to use one. Don't you agree? 

Today's DIY is not really a step-by-step tutorial because, like I always say, you can find tons of tutorials online now like on Pinterest. In fact, that's where I found the design of the baby doll carrier. Yaye to Pinterest, again! I actually made own pattern to this, and I just use my little girl's doll to decide the size that I want for the carrier, using the design I found online. Thank you to whoever first came up with this design. This DIY Baby Doll Carrier is so simple to make that I think even a beginner can do it. 

Since my little girl won't be carrying a really heavy baby doll, I used the snaps to attach the straps together. I have tons of snap left from when I used to make our own cloth diapers, so I use them in a lot of my projects from making my girl's clothes to making the carrier. Snaps are easy to install and easy for the little kids to use. But if you decide to make your own carrier, please feel free to use whatever you want. 

My little mama and her new baby Sari. I don't know where she came up with that name, but that's what she told us. I wish I had made the front owl pocket bigger to fit the baby bottle, but she told me it was okay because it can fit the little pink baby blanket. 

Do they look alike now? 

All covered in Chalk Powder. 

- I made my own little pattern from two art papers that I taped together. You can use a newspaper too, or whatever paper you have available. 

- Cut two of these in the fabric you want for the front and the back piece of the carrier. 

- Sew the sides of the two fabrics together, right side facing each other, except leave the bottom open, so you can flip your fabric right side out later on. And the bottom part is where you stitch your straps as well. 

- When making your straps, all you do is cut a long strip of fabric, to the width and length you need. Attach the straps to the bottom of your carrier and you have your almost finished carrier. The last thing to do is attach the straps or Velcro, and your carrier is done! I told you it was easy! 

(As you can see in the picture below, my straps are attached to the side because I made a mistake when I first made my pattern. My straps are wider than the bottom of the carrier. That is why on my pattern above, the bottom is wider so I could stitch my straps together and not to the side. It still works though). 

Baby doll carrying is a serious business. Didn't I say it comes in handy when climbing? 

I like the baby doll carrier so much that I thought of making another one for my little girl's friend. She too has her own baby doll and I see her carrying it everywhere she goes, that I thought she could surely use one. We are crossing our fingers and toes she will love it. 

This one is for a friend. I really wish I had some really cute fabrics left, but I don't have anymore, so I hope this one is cute enough. 

Next time on the DIY part, I am going to show you a few of the baby doll clothes I made. And maybe this time I will have a step-by-step tutorial on how to make an easy baby doll dress. What do you think? 

Let me know if ever you are making one or have made one and share us your photos on our Facebook page: Chetopian Family. Have a great one! And Happy Thanksgiving, America! 

Recycle: From A Shoe Box To A Doll House

Do you guys remember the last time we recycled some boxes into toys? Well, here is another contribution to recycling some boxes. Like I had mentioned before, I have been saving a whole bunch of boxes, so the kids and I can recycle them. My kids are always interested in creating something from a box that would otherwise end up in a trash if we don't do something with it. I had promised my little girl that I would make her a doll house and I finally did.

We went to the store the other day and thank goodness I remembered to pick up a couple of fun and colorful duct tapes. Aren't those duct tapes amazing? The next time we are out of town I am picking up more duct tapes in different colors and prints for our next recycle projects. 

I wasn't going to share this recycling project with you just yet because I wanted to make a couple more of doll houses, but I got so excited I couldn't wait. I want to make a village of doll houses made out of nothing but shoe boxes and duct tapes. But I will share with you some photos once I have all the other houses made. Plus, I think my little man wants me to make him a war tank out of some boxes. We will see how that goes. 

This doll house could surely use some fancy curtains. That's next on the to-do list.

Materials used:

- A Shoe Box

- Fun and Colorful Duct Tapes

- A Sharpie 

(I used the Sharpie to paint the front of the house black. You can use whatever color you want)

- Exacto Knife 

(for cutting out windows and door)

Note: You can also spray paint the house. It is up to you whatever you feel like doing. I sure have learned something from making this first doll house. Since I am not using a spray paint, it is best to cover the parts of the house with the duct tape I want first before I start assembling all the pieces. It was a bit tricky to stick the duct tape on all the corners of the doll house. 

The dollhouse comes with a balcony, except I forgot to make a door that leads to it. Oh well! And don't forget the Chimney! 

And who says a doll house is only for dolls? 

If you're my little girl, a helicopter, a car, an Angry bird, an orange monkey, and all kinds of tiny hot wheels can be in the doll house too. I guess I need to make another one that is big enough to accommodate the toys. 

Have you recycled lately? 

Altering My Own Jeans

I got these pair of black Levi Jeans three weeks ago that I got for free from a sweet neighbor of mine back home in Southeast Kansas. Though it was not exactly my size or the right fit, I knew I could alter it so I was thankful she gave it to me for free along with another Khaki Capri. I wasn't so sure what to do with it whether or not to skinny or straight cut it, so I let it sit for a while undecided what to do, until I visited another DIY blog. I sure miss my mama when it comes to altering my clothes. Back home, she was always the one altering all my clothes so whenever we go thrift shopping, we always find great items that may not be in my size or her size, but has the potential to be refashioned or altered, and we take it. 

Anyway, I visited another DIY blog, and she posted a photo of her wearing a pair of jeans that she altered and turned it into a bell bottom jeans. And that got me excited and inspired in altering my jeans. Although I already learned years ago from my mama on how to skinny and turn a pair of jeans into a bell bottom ones, but I just needed that inspiration and that drive to pick up that pair of black jeans and alter it. And so I finally did. 

I decided to Bell Bottom it, you know the ones with the tapered on the top and flared on the bottom jeans. I'll show you the before and after, and because there is a sea of tutorial about altering jeans already, I'll just leave you the link to the tutorial incase you want to make your own. Cotton and Curls is an awesome clothing DIY blog and the lovely lady and a sexy mama of two inspires me a lot when it comes to DIYs, and it actually makes me miss my mama when I see all her DIYs. It's because I wish she is here so she could help me alter or make my clothes, instead she is halfway around the world away from me with my papa. Awe! I am still a mama's little girl, only girl. I miss both of them. Love you ma & pa! Anyway, here are some photos.

And because I am a mama myself, you will see my little man in some of the photos because he loves his picture taken as well, with nothing but diaper on. Just incase you are wondering about the huge smoke to the left, I am not so sure, but I think somewhere they are burning their field getting the soil ready for the cold season. When I first went outside I really thought that the train (we are close to the railroad) was on fire. Thank God it was not!

And while wanting to be alone and not ready for a photo op because I was trying to figure out where to trace my jeans, the little man turned the camera to my direction and clicked. To make the long story short, my jeans was done. Because I am really short, most of my clothes I have to alter, especially with pants or jeans. I don't have time or the money to have my clothes tailored or altered so I am glad I have a little bit of know-how. It saves me money that way. I wish I had asked my mom more about sewing and techniques before though, instead I have to learn them myself as I go along.

Voila! Here is the finished altered jeans. Whatcha' think? I got a feeling though that before this week ends, these pair of pants will be skinnied. If so, I'll have to look for another pair of pants perfect for the belly bottom look. Hmmmm... I think I might just have one in my closet. Aha! Click here for the "not my own tutorial".

Aromatherapy: Essential Oils

No! I am no witch, but I do have me some potions. Essential oils that is! I didn't know much about essential oils before until I first saw this show on Veria channel about aromatherapy, and how you can apply that to better your lives. This show called "Everybody Nose" by Noelle Katai is amazing! It's the reason that I am hooked on aromatherapy and using essential oils as my alternative for house cleaners, insect and bug repellent, skin care, sanitizer, etc. I am slowly learning things about aromatherapy this time and right now I have few essential oils collected that I am currently using. If you ask me why I chose this way, it's because I know that with essential oils it is safer for us and for our health, since there aren't any harsh chemicals and I would say it is safer for the environment as well.

Here are few of my collections:

My essential oils so far. These are the ones that I use around the house and just this morning, I was mixing up some homemade Aromatherapy Insect Repellent from the recipe I got from the show. Since the weather is starting to warm up and insects or mosquitoes are coming back, we need protection from them, so with this stuff insects be gone! It smells a whole lot better than the ones you buy at the store that has this harsh chemical smell. I love this stuff! I also use essential oils for my kitchen and bathroom cleaners, wood polisher, homemade cloth wipes, for laundry, carpet deodorizer, etc. 

Note: This is not the right bottle. You have to have a dark bottle so that the sunlight won't suck the life out of your oils. I have to get me some the next time we go out of town. For now, I am keeping this away from sun exposure.

I keep my essential oils in this beautiful Vintage tin that I thrifted a year a go and it  is on the higher shelf in the kitchen so the kids won't be able to reach it. 

Note: I am not paid to advertise the product. I purchased the product myself, and I just thought it is worth sharing and that you guys might find it helpful. 

DIY Mod Podged Jars

In an attempt to make these jars look cuter, I came up with a Mod Podged jars idea. These containers are emptied cherry and pickle jars that my husband brought home from work. At that time I was wanting some sugar and flour containers as I have not been to the thrift store to get me some of those  vintage containers so I saw these jars and immediately had the idea to Mod Podge it. I have this fabric that I bought online that has baking theme prints on it and it is perfect as it has the word sugar and flour, so I cut that out and pasted it on the jars. Here is the finished product.

My flour container.

My sugar container.

One granulated sugar container and one for powdered sugar. So cute! 

All you need is a Mod Podge that you can buy at any craft store or Hobby Lobby (that's where I bought mine) and a brush. Of course you need your jars, your cute fabric or an art paper of your choice and get it done.

I think it is a fun way to label your jars to make sure you know what is in it and  it is another great way to recycle empty containers as well, right? What do you think? 

Project 9/366: Homemade Whip Butter

Have you ever had a homemade whip butter before? If not, then you should try this one. I mean, it is absolutely delicious, sweet and creamy. The moment my husband taught me how to do it, I was hooked. I have been making this for like 5 times since. It's easy to make and absolutely worth making. Here's what to do.

You'll need:

One heavy whipping cream with no preservatives and you let it sit out of the refrigerator overnight. The next day, pour it into a tight lid jar. You are going to need a tight lid vessel for this just so it won't be spilling all over the place once you shake it up. With mine I used a clean and empty Prego jar. I have quite a few of these at home since we love to eat pasta, but you can absolutely use whatever you prefer just as long as it has a tight lid. I think a mason jar would do too.

Shake the jar with the cream in it for about three (3) minutes or until the cream is no longer sticking to the jar. You will feel that the cream is starting to clump up and it will look like the photo below.

Once the cream looks like this, no longer sticking to the jar, then you made your own homemade butter, but you are not done.

There is your butter right there. The liquid around it is what you called the "buttermilk".

Pour the buttermilk into a different container and save that to make some buttermilk pancake or buttermilk biscuit the next day or whatever you want to do with it. Make sure to store it right away in the refrigerator so it won't spoil.

Once you are done draining the buttermilk off, then you are going to put some water just about a half of the jar full and shake it up lightly. You are doing this because you want to get rid of some of the buttermilk left. I think it's because the buttermilk will spoil the butter so you want to do this step. You drain the water off and you don't need to save that. Just toss it away.

And here is your butter! One creamy, sweet unsalted butter. If you want it to be salty, then you just add a pinch of salt into the butter. I love pairing it with my homemade Outback Steakhouse Honey Wheat Bushman bread that I happened to have some tonight freshly baked. KALAMI (delicious)! Enjoy! Let me know how yours turned out!

Note: I learned this method from my husband and he also learned this from an article he found. I will make sure to let him send me the article so I can give credit to whoever came up with this method of butter making. Thank you!