Magic Wands

The tutus I made just didn't seem to be enough of a gift for the girls. They are crazy cute and maybe if I had made a couple for each girl I wouldn't have felt like it wasn't enough, but as it is I felt like each little girl could use something else to go with their Tutu. So, I decided to make them wands. Sadly, I had no clue what I was doing or any idea of what I was going to do, until I found these cute little butterfly things in Hobby Lobby. Two cheers for cute Spring things finally making an appearance!

Once I found the butterflys I just figured it out. I used 1 butterfly, one 12 inch section of dowel, matching colored ribbon and a hot glue gun. Here is a picture of the stuff, except for the glue gun. He didn't make it in time.


I have no idea why this picture decided to be upside down. I guess it is happy that way and I don't know how to change it unless I delete it and re-download it and I am way to lazy for that. (Oh yeah! Super sorry for the pictures. They are horrible, but I really just don't have light for good pictures. Maybe I will have to start taking things outside to photograph.)

Anyway, first, FarmerStone wrapped the thin wire that supported the butterfly around the dowel. He wrapped it fairly tight and then used a pair of pliers to dink around with the end so it wouldn't be sharp and was held on pretty tight. Smart of him. He was helping me because it was late at night and we were watching MacGyver at the same time!



After that, all I did was wrap ribbon around the dowel handle until it looked nice, hot gluing a little as I went. I then just tied on some ribbon to dangle around the handle. I think all three turned out adorable. I really wish the colors showed up better. They are very sparkly and fun!

So far, the little girls who have gotten their wands have really liked them. I don't know how they will stand up to serious abuse, but I can't predict how harsh other little kids are going to be on them. Wa and Kiki would probably use them to hit each other, so we don't have any at our house right now. I will probably make one soon though, because they are super cute and really fast to make. Plus, Kiki could really use some girly stuff of her own. She is perfectly okay with her brother's stuff, but I feel like she could use SOMETHING that screams little girl!

Making Tutus

I always have BIG plans for making homemade gifts for all Holidays and other gift giving opportunities. I buy all of the "stuff," start and then never finish a single project. There are blankets, quilts, soaps, quiet books, felt food and probably a million other projects lying around just waiting for me to get back to them. Well, not today my friends! BA HA HA HA HA! I have finally finished something. (Yes, the evil laugh is necessary, don' ask me why.)

There are lots of kids in our life. Both family and friends are at the perfect baby making age. It just so happens that three little girls all have their Birthdays at the end of March and early April. So, I decided that this WAS the year they were getting homemade gifts. Of course, I had to figure out what to make. YIKES!

While blog stalking, I came across Feels Like Home, which is an amazing blog! I love the set-up and the content. I could spend all day looking at that blog! Anyway, I saw How to Make a Tutu: A Tutorial and decided they were exactly what I was looking for. Little girls turning two and three NEED tutus! GIRLY, FRILLY, CUTENESS! How could I possibly go wrong? They were really cheap to make, fairly fast and easy!


I would like to apologize for the quality of the pictures. I have yet to figure out a good spot with good lighting to take pictures. I also had the added trouble of a little girl trying desperately to get her little hands, which you can see in the top two pictures, on those Tutus. So, they were a little rumpled instead of looking all pretty for the pictures!

I followed the tutorial pretty closely. However, I only used 2 yards of tulle per tutu. Instead of stacking three strips of tulle and then tying the knot, I only used two strips and the skirts were plenty full. I imagine, as the girls get older, I would need or want more layers. I haven't made one for Kiki yet, but I have some plans and some cool color ideas. I am looking forward to making her one as soon as I get to Hobby Lobby to pick up some more Tulle! I promise to put pictures up of her showing them off as soon as I get one or two done!