Birthday Giveaway

Today our Keri is having a birthday, so of course, Playing House wants to be in on the celebration.  We are celebrating on facebook with a giveaway, but for those nonfacebookers we want you to celebrate with us.  Hence we have two giveaways today.    Please leave a guess of Keri's age under the comments section of this post.  Closest person wins  a couple hair clips.  If we have several that are correct, we will take those that were correct and draw one of those.  You have one guess and until midnight tonight to guess.  Please add email address to guess so we can contact you if you win.

What's new on the Clothesline? Aprons

Hot off the clothesline...our aprons 

little retro with rick rack around the bodice

ties around the neck and waist

a little more country...that's kind of Playing House's style

The Playing House Apron...ties at waist and neck with a pocket and reinforced bodice.  Great for the dolls in the kitchen or in the play room.  Can make any size.  $5.00 to ship.  Combine with another order for reduced shipping.  Half apron coming soon!  Forgive me...I did my own photo shoot!  Keri will be replacing these pictures soon (I promise).  Doll #2 thought that only a princess would wear a pink polka dot apron hence the crown!

Base Price $25.00
Designer fabric add $5.00
Adult size add $10.00  

The Easiest Pillow Covers Ever as promised! The Envelope Pillow Cover

Well this is a little early...not quite Tutorial Thursday, but I'm going to be out of town tomorrow so I had to share tonight.  I'm headed to NYC to see my little sis...that's right, everyone...Playing House is heading to the big apple.  I hope I grab some inspiration while I'm there!  Keri is having a big weekend, too, but more about that on Friday.


So with three dolls and my husband in the house, I needed some pillow covers that where pretty (of course), but very easy to take off the pillows and CLEAN!  These covers had to stand up to some tough stuff...I mean from milk to late night snacks.  They also had to be easy and quick because that's how we roll around here these days between homework, soccer, football...you all have the same craziness at your house, you know.  So that being said...here you go...what most people call the Envelope Cover!

 Supplies:

Fabric

Pillow Insert

Thread

Pins

Sewing Machine

Scissors

1.  Measure your pillow inserts.  You want a piece of fabric that is the height of your pillow insert plus 1 inch and double the width of your pillow insert plus 7 inches.  I had a 16 inch pillow insert.  My fabric was 17 inches X 39 inches.  

2.  Hem both short sides by turning the fabric over 1/4 inch and ironing flat.  Turn over again 1/4 inch and iron flat.  Pin.  Then straight stitch the hem.  Do this on the other short side as well.

3.  Then lay fabric flat with right side of fabric towards you.  (right side just means the side that you want on the outside when finished.)  Then take the best looking short side to the middle first (this hem will show).

4.  Take the second hem towards the middle.  You should have about a 6 inch overlap in the middle of the pillowcase.  Check and make sure that by folding your sides in the width of the pillow cover is about the width of your pillow insert.  Pin!!!  It should look like this...

5.  Straight stitch on each side about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.  You can surge these or zig zag after straight stitching them for a "finished look."    

6.  Flip them right side out and you have a pillow cover.  Insert pillow cover and use them!!!  My kids have loved hanging out on these while reading books, wrestling, or watching TV!

Tutorial Thursday...a way to change your light fixtures without breaking the bank

So some of you that know me, know that my husband is a little thrifty (I think that's the nice way to say it) and I love it about him sometimes.  I, on the other hand, worry less about that stuff, but that's what makes couples work, right!?  I drive him crazy with all my projects...I just have to be doing something creative...I'm not sure why...just how God made me, I guess.  We've been in the new house a few years and getting new light fixtures in the living room was on my list of things I'd like to do, but not have to do.  I love the shape of them, but I really didn't want gold fixtures...I'm kind of into black.  It's easy...it matches everything!  So I thought why am I going to replace light fixtures that are just fine and that I somewhat like...just not the color...and so my best friend, spray paint, came to mind!

How to Spray Paint Light Fixtures

Materials Needed:

Spray Paint (my husband just got the basic kind, but I would suggest the no rust kind.  It holds to metal better)

Painting Tape

Large piece of cardboard

1.  Dust off your light fixture and make sure it is clean.  If you can separate all the hardware from the glass of the light fixture, do that.  If you can't, tape around the glass that you don't want to get painted.  Tape a larger section them you think because spray paint travels.  As you can see in the picture, I taped half way up the light.

2.  Then spray away whatever you want painted.  I would suggest holding spray paint pretty far away when spraying so that you don't spray off the paint.  Just do one coat.

3.  Let dry several hours on cardboard or an old frozen pizza box.  ;)  

4.  Paint another coat.  Let dry again several hours.  Another coat might be needed.  

5.  Once dry (I let mine dry overnight), rehang your new old light fixture.

Next week, we tackle the easiest pillow covers ever!!!

What's Drying on the Clothesline...The beginning of the Boy's Line

Sharp Tie Tee

 

These are our Sharp Tie Tees.  We had a few requests, so the little guys' line has begun.  We will be growing it slowly!  This fall the Sharp Tie Tee will be a long sleeve white shirt unless otherwise requested.  Now your guy can match your doll.  Remember we love custom orders, so email us at justplayinghouse@gmail.com! 

Price $16.00

 Local customers can pick up from Playing House, otherwise it is $5.00 to ship.  Combined purchases for cheaper shipping.

It's the old cliche...where does the time go & a tutorial on the Measuring Stick

Well as all things do...the seasons they are a changing...  My children went back to school and they traded their goggles and dive sticks for backpacks and lunch boxes.  I traded my laid-back no-schedule life for the back-to-the-grind school schedule.

With that change, so much has been getting done around the house the past day or so.  One of things we marked off our to-do list was something to record the children's heights as they got taller.  And man are they growing up on us.  It seems in a blink of an eye, doll  #1 is a boy and no longer the little toddler he once was.   Doll #3 is talking up a storm and wanting to do EVERYTHING the older dolls want to do when in my reality she should still be in her infant swing!  Oh well, so here you go...a tutorial on the Measuring Stick.

It is really very easy and I wasn't planning on writing this so there are not many pictures...I will do better on my next tutorial.

our door to the workshop

Supplies:
A board (1 in. X 6 in. X 6 ft.-this can vary...just depends on what you want and where you will put it)
Stain or paint
Paintbrush
Stencils
Sharpie
Square
Electric Hand Sander
Sandpaper
Measuring Tape
2 flush hangers


1.  Make sure you have all your supplies...you laugh, but how many times do we think we have everything and then end up making 5 trips to the local hardware store.

2.  Sand your board.  I wanted rounded edges on my board.  Take hand sander and soften the edges of the board.  I like the look a little better and it's a little safer if a kiddo falls on it.  (Doll #2 is clumsy.)  Make sure you wipe your board down after you have finished sanding it.

3.  Stain or paint your board.  We stained ours to match our trim, but you could paint if you wanted to match a specific room.  It took 2 coats.  Stain or paint the sides as well.  They will show once the board is hung.

4.  Use your square to mark each inch on the board.  You will want to decide where you want to hang your board and how high it will hang on the wall before you start marking.  This will decide were you start.  So if you hang it 8 inches from the floor, you want to start on the board with the 8 inch.  We also made the mark for each foot about half the board long and each half foot about a quarter of the board long.  Inch marks weren't as long.  See finished picture for details on the mark.  Each mark was about an 1/8 of an inch in width.  Use a pencil first.  Once completed, go back with a Sharpie and fill in the marks.

5.  Add the numbers with your stencils.  Again, use pencil, then go back over with a Sharpie.

6.  Hang the Measuring Stick.  My husband thinks it is best to screw it in the wall.  I, on the other hand, didn't want to see the screws.  He found something at our local hardware store to hang it on called flush hangers.  We used them on the top and bottom.

And now you are ready to enjoy measuring your dolls each year.  Ours were really excited to get measured and I am super excited that I will have a reminder just how little they once were!

I have been asked if we are selling these.  If you are interested in one, please email justplayinghouse@gmail.com or personal message us on facebook!

                      

 

We are open and ready to go!

We have most of our items up on the blog...we still have a few pictures to add for each item, so you can see exactly how they fit on a doll, but Keri has done a great job with the pictures of our clothesline.   If you are on the homepage of our blog, you will see tabs with Dresses, Skirts & Pants, Outfits, and Accessories.  If you click on these tabs, you will find all the images and information on our items.  We will have the etsy shop up tomorrow.  Locals can contact us and we can arrange orders through email, phone, or facebook.  Those customers who aren't local we do have to go through paypal for our security and yours.  You can still contact us through email, phone, or facebook, but we will make a private listing for you on etsy for you to purchase your items.  Shop policies can also be found on our online etsy shop.  (link coming soon)  Thank you all so much for your support and all the lovely comments we have received.  Remember we are new at this so bear with us as we work to design some lovely items.

Photo Shoots & Keri

Keri, my partner, hasn't been on the blog much, but she has been working really hard.  Not only can she sew, but she's really good at capturing a picture.  So Playing House has a built in photographer!  This weekend she was a busy little bee turning her real house into a portrait studio for OUR DRESSES!  Her hubby, the sweet guy he is, stole a few pictures of her while she was working.  

Pins, needles, scissors, and toy bull horns, OH MY!

Keri and I have been very busy hunched over our sewing machines these past few weeks or over the computer trying to figure out how to get our shop up and going.  I have been searching through fall fabrics and even some Christmas...Keri has been surging...and surging...and surging while making this one extra special dress!
Skirts are everywhere....pins are flying and well we have children too...though Keri has none, she has been dealing with mine. As you can imagine...barbies, stuffed animals, firefighter bull horns that make noise...I mean the list goes on and                    on of the craziness.  Keri has been a trooper...Moms you know what I mean out there...sometimes our workshop looks like a war zone or a playroom...not sure which.

It has been so much fun and I've been enjoying this burst of creativity that has happened every once and awhile, but is now happening almost daily.  I love it...I have been thinking about scraps of this fabric and that throughout each day.  Keri emails every morning very early ideas she has been working on each prior evening.  We are having way too much fun most days.  Share below in comments what fall or christmas colors you mommas might want to see on your dolls!

P.S.  Me and the red dress in this picture almost had to fight...whoever buys that one is getting a lot of extra special love!  More pictures of Keri to come soon...I might have to catch her in action...photo shoot this weekend!

And sew it begins...

So let's start at the beginning...I had this girl named Keri as a student.  She begin taking pictures of my first doll.  He was a sweetheart and loved Keri, so she began babysitting for us as well.  Then my husband and I had another doll.  She was sweet and perfectly tiny.  Keri came to take her newborn pictures...then there was a flood.  Keri was stuck at our house while taking doll #2's pictures...She watched the dolls while my hubbie and I watched the water rise in our basement/garage.

And so the relationship grew from that day forward.  Since she has taken pictures of doll #3, we've watched Keri get married, and she has become my sewing friend.  We would talk about craft projects we had going on...then we began sewing together when we could...and asking each other for their opinion...then one day a few months ago we joked we should start selling our sewing projects...then a week or so ago I said let's do it and so Playing House was begun.

We will be making custom dresses, skirts, pants and accessories for the dolls in your life...and in ours too!  Our goal is an August 15th start date, but we might open a tad earlier and just not have everything up until August 15th.  So we hope in the next week or so, you should begin seeing us on facebook and if you search hard enough maybe www.etsy.com