Pajama Party

Our Pajama Party went effortlessly, but I unfortunately do not have any pictures as my disc was occupied in the printer making cards for the girls that attended. I didn't want to leave anyone hanging...

This photo wins for best of the evening!

Inspired?

I saw this picture online today while researching decorations for the upcoming PJ party

...and I need one!

etsy.com fabricorfiction $32

Of course, most people would fork over the requested $32, but I have this alphabet grosgrain ribbon I purchased a year ago, just waiting for the right opportunity, and this is it! I'm off to raid my fabric stash for child friendly basic patterns, and hopefully - with my contact paper to make it less destructible- we shall soon have a banner to hang across this large room with pillars.

Not the best picture, and, yes, I am that childish!

I'll keep you all posted!








Here's the finished product, I'll be adding a title as well:

Pillowcase Giveaway

       Well it's time for our first event of the school year, a PJ party this weekend. All girls (moms) who registered their daughters on our facebook fan page a week before the party are to recieve a pillowcase. Originally, the thought was to purchase bulk pillowcases that we could have the t-shirt logo screen printed onto; but as always, situations come up that force you to switch your plans - this situation, the website where I found reasonably priced pillowcases was referred to by Martha Stewart who apparently had a PJ party on a recent show. Long story short, the pillowcases are now backordered.
       I then went on to purchase pillow shams from a discount store, which were way to thin and could not be loaded onto the screenprinting machine (Does anyone need 13 thin green pillow shams?)

      These events had led to one possible solution....break out the sewing machine and create my own pillows! I found some great fabric at a local WalMart (not as easy as it sounds, considering the fabric sections are a dying breed in this area)

Girl Scout themed fabric $4 a yard

     The fabric has great sayings which scream girl scouts, and makes for a good pillowcase border.....and now the steps to make pillowcases:

A yard of solid fabric halved - about 24x36"(creates two pillowcases)

A patterned fabric -10x36"

thread

basic sewing skills

Here are the solid and patterned fabrics lying together:

Take the solid fabric and roll it up (leave a small piece exposed to attached)

Pin the patterned fabric, right sides together, with the solid rolled up inside and sew along the open seam.

Pull the solid fabric from inside the roll 

Smooth the fabric out and pin right sides together. (You will have a  pillowcase border without an exposed seam.)

Sew along the open edges and flip the pillowcase inside out.

This entirely optional, but I like to sew along the border just inside the patterned fabric for a little added stability.

Trim the thread and your all set!

Cost is about $2.50 a girl and more special than could be bought!

Homecoming Parade

     Just in time for Homecoming, we got our sweatshirts and finished our hairbows!

      The day ended up being about 70 degrees which is probably 10-15 degrees warmer than normal for October in our area (did I mention my ability to pick events on hot days?), and the fact that we began our marching around the corner from the high school, did not guarantee a short trip....we walked away from the field and for about 3 miles - so the town could see us.

    But we were able to pass lots of girls along the way and hand out invites to the pajama party. The girls also got to practice their walking and waving. A necessary evil in the lives of Princesses : )

Creating hairbows

I was able to get pictures of the girls making their hairbows this evening. So I can show, step by step, how it's done. It's basic, but will require a little tweaking to get the desired side to face forward. 

Materials needed:

Large Main Grosgrain Color 1 1/2" (Green)

Medium Contrasting Grosgrain Color 7/8"(White)

Medium Sheer Color 7/8" (White)

Small Complimentary Color 1/2" (Green)

Small Complimentary Color 1/2" (Grey)

Thin Contrasting Color 1/8" (White)

Ponytail Holder

Hot Glue Gun

Scissors

Button

Rhinestone

We began with three ribbons, a large green grosgrain (about 1 1/2 inches), a white 7/8 inch grosgrain, and a sheer white all the same length (26"-30"). The ribbons are stacked in that order, with green being on the bottom.

Then we added 6 other ribbons. Our sweatshirts are grey and green, so the next ribbons are green, grey and white. These are just background ribbons, and are about 12 inches, 2 of each color. 

Those get stacked in the middle of the large ribbons, as if forming a plus sign.

Then the girls worked in pairs. One girl held the edges of the shorter ribbons, while the other tied a simple knot. The girl were careful to twist the ribbons as they tied to keep the sheer ribbon on top

The end result is a strip of ribbon, which the girls slid a ponytail holder onto

The girls the take the two sides of the Large Green and white and tie a simple bow; the same as when you learn the bunny-ear method of tying shoes

After a little pulling, twisting and turning, you get a cute little bow. 

No exaggeration, this requires a LOT of patience! This project filled our 1 1/2 hour meeting.

Once the bow looks the way you want it to, you can use hot glue to add the button ....

...and rhinestone. Completely not necessary, but it gives a little sparkle to the project.

The girls then trimmed the end of the larger ribbons to have pointed edges.

These are going to look great at the parade!

Homecoming Parade Prep

Our town homecoming is this October and we have been preparing for our parade debut. We will be using this event to recruit new girls, with the girls handing out invites for an event later this month, so we need to make sure that every girl marching is n point and presented as a unit.


I have to admit I have been guilty of doing things differently with just my girls which does not reflect on the Service Unit correctly, so this year, we're starting off new, and making everyone the same...Fabulous as a whole! This year we have green t-shirts, new grey sweatshirts, and matching cheer-style hairbows (we're not official cheerleaders, we just bring the spirit!!!)

Cheer bows, made this past Monday

As projects this week, each girl will be creating their own hairbow. I purchased, last minute, from Joann fabric, but there is a great site papermart.com which has beautiful grosgrain ribbon in every shade imaginable in varied widths and lengths from about $4 per roll (that's $4 for about 50 yards) purchasing last minute in-store is much more expensive with rolls of 5 yards going for ~$5 ( note: Plan ahead)

I am also excited to see our sweatshirts which have been special ordered and should arrive (((gasp))) the day before the parade. Keep your fingers crossed and an eye out for pitures in later posts <3

Shinnecock Pow Wow

For the second year, we traveled east to Southampton for the annual Pow wow during Labor day weekend. 

The girls love to see the crafts, intricate beadwork, and clothing there. 

      It's a good deal at $10 per child, the girls brought lunch with them, and you can bring chairs, sit back and enjoy the show!

We will definitely be taking the trip next year!