DIY Chalk Play Table

Surprised little caterpillar with this fun little blue table the other day, she was so excited. Last Xmas, I made her a little black board, and she played with it all the time, actually she really enjoyed making a mess and wiping it clean. I still have most of the chalk paint, have been looking for ways to use it. Then I remembered this little blue table I found on the side of the road. It's just a simple, cheap blue table, with metal legs and platic top. Nothing really wrong about it, just looked sad. Forgot to take a before picture, but you get what it looked like from this underside.

 I just spray painted the legs and the edge of the top, primed the top two coats, then painted it with the chalk paint three coats. This is how it looked when I was done with it.

Now bring out the chalks and have some fun with it. Drew some roads on it,

put some little cars along the road, (Can you tell that mommy loves wooden toys?)

How cute is this?

Look, it matches all the other blue funiture in the living/play room. In case you didn't see it, the inside of the toy shelves is blue too.

Oh, not just cars and roads, we have an airport in the center too.

Then wipe off the roads, drew some lines, it just became a little writing table. Now little caterpillar can practice her ABCs without wasting any paper.

Hmm, what wlse can we do with it? Whatever we can do with regular blackboard and play table. Now what else can I paint with this chalk paint?

Scrap Sewing Projects II

Isn't this baby cute? A whole dress costed me about $4! I went to Joann the other day looking for some velco tapes. Seeing their remnant shelves were so full, I just could not pass it by. I said here before that I would not buy new fabric until I use up most of my stash. But these two just were too cute. Look at them, it's like someone put them there on purpose. Sorry I forgot to take the before pic, the shirred fabric was already cut.

Look at these tiny owls! Aren't they the cutest thing ever? They are only about the size of a pea.

I knew there was only 1/4 yard of that green shirred fabric, but it was way smaller than I imagined. Lucky it's wide enough, and little caterpillar is still young. So, I cut it in half, it's the perfect height then. One side of the ruffle is longer than the other side, so I cut off the extra, and hem it again, so the two pieces became identical.

Here is the cut pieces. I was so lucky, had enough fabric for the dress, and barely enough for a hat brim. Look at the next picture, that's all it was left. Maybe enough to cover some buttons.  

 

Again, here is the finished dress. The way I designed it, it can be wore 3 different ways. I made it quite big, it was meant for next year. Little caterpillar already has more than 20 dresses this year.

When she is younger, the straps will be long enough to tie up right in front.

She can also tie a couple of knots in each strap and let the tips hanging freely. The knots will hold the straps in place, and can be tied at any length, so this dress is very versatile.

Since the front and back are exact same, she can also wear it as a Halter dress, tie the straps in the back. But that will be a couple of years from now. She pulls her other halter dress down to waist now. Not very safe.

What's the verdict? "It's very cute. I LOVE IT!" "It's too big mommy!" Oh, honey, I know. I love it too. I really paid attention to the details this time, as this is the first dress I made for her from scretch. I serged all raw edges, really put my new serger to good use this time.

I double stitched most of places.

I even added a little piece of ribbon to the side. Little caterpillar was very excited to find a hello kitty there. Stubborn even said it looks like store bought. Yay! Approval from both of them!

What's next? I am working on a reversable bucket hat with the tiny left over pieces, so little caterpillar can wear this dress with a matching hat. Will show you the hat when it's done. Just need to go to Joann again for some interfacing. Who knows, I might find more cute fabric.