Cutie Valentine Girl Tutorial, Tamales Talk, and a Valentine Wreath Today!

Hello everyone!  How are you all doing?  I am doing well, I finished my valentine wreath, I have written two quick tutorials to share with you, and my family and I made tamales for the first time today.  So it has been busy here.  First, some pics of Cort (daughter) and Kaya (granddaughter) in some of her Valentine attire ~ 

Poor Cooper was trying to nap on his momma's lap during our mini Valentine fashion show, see him to the left?  ~

Doesn't Kaya look darling?  I love her little bare feet, her nail polish matches on her toes and fingers ~

Do you want a chance to win some of these darling Valentine fabric flowers?  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, or for two chances, leave a comment on this post and become a follower.  Winner to be announced Sunday, see details at the bottom of this post.

Cuties!  OK, time to get to business.  First, the headband tutorial.

 Cut 2" wide strips of fabric for rolled fabric flowers and roll.  I use my handy dandy glue gun to adhere the fabric , it is quick and easy.

Next, select your fabric flowers and arrange them how you would like to glue to your headband ~

Begin gluing them to the headband, just use a small dab of hot glue, you will anchor them more firmly later.  Layer the flowers ~

 Finish gluing the flowers, check to be sure you don't want to change the arrangement or add additional flowers ~

Next begin tying short little pinked edge strips of fabric between each flower ~

After you have tied the short pinked edge fabric strips, tie little smidge pieces of tulle between each flower (I use about a 5-6" wide piece and bunch it up) ~

Once you have tied all your fabric strips and tulle, trim as needed.  Next, turn the headbands so you can see the inside ~ 

Using your hot glue, anchor the fabric flowers more firmly, then add a thin strip of felt to the inside of the headband to tidy things up ~

 Done!  Look how cute, and it was easy peasy to do too!  Add gems, pearls, baubles or whatever else you like to beautify your headbands.

Close up shot ~

Time to glam up some leggings!  I used a $5.00 pair of cute leggings I picked up at Old Navy.  They were actually a Christmas present for my oldest granddaughter (the 4 year old), but I told her I was going to "decorate" them for Valentine's Day.   To begin, I cut 3" wide fabric strips for each leg.  If you want a really ruffled look, use the entire width of your fabric (usually 42- 44").   Be warned though, it can be tricky to gather and sew that much fabric onto a skinny little legging.  You can always start out using half the width (about 21") and see how you do with that  ~

Finish the edges of each strip.  I folded mine over twice and stitched, but you can use pinking shears and leave raggedy, or use a serger to finish the edges as well.  It is up to you ~

Cut the seam allowance of each legging from the bottom edge of each leg to about 4" above where the last ruffle will go so you can spread the legging out flat.  Make sure you pick off the cut threads.  Below you can see one leg is cleaned up, while one leg still has thread to clean up  ~

Gather each strip and pin it to the legging, doing one at a time.  I line the bottom edge of the legging with the bottom edge of the ruffled strip.  Stitch each strip 2 x so it won't come off.  I usually stretch the legging fabric a bit while stitching so there is room for the child to maneuver her foot in there. Keep layering fabric, gathering, pinning, then stitching.  You can see below where I have one leg with three rows, and one leg with two rows ~

Finished!  Now I flipped the leggings inside out and restitched the leg seams together.  It is easier to do if you pin the leggings then stitch.  After stitching, turn them right side out and voila!  Done!

 Close up of ruffles ~

 Another close up ~

 Here is a close up shot of Cooper's Valentine shirt and "faux" tie ~

Close up shot of one of the granddaughter's shirts ~

 Here is my fun Valentine's Wreath ~ 

It is usually really snowy and cold here on Valentine's Day, so I put some frosty snowflakes on my wreath, in addition to a little sparklie red bird and boatloads of hearts ~

 Lots of sparkle and fluff, and more of the monogram theme (I am doing a whole year, this is so FUN!) ~

Today my kids and two grandkiddies came over to continue with our international cooking together time and we made tamales.   Cort was the only one who had ever done this before.  We had fun, and made a boatload.  Here are some pics of the tamale makers (Kaya age 4) ~

Cort - my daughter (she made DELICH masa!) ~

Kaya again, she really did a fabulous job ~

 Jay, being silly, who thought he was the best in the group (he did a pretty good job I have to admit) ~

 

Waiting to dive in ~

My hubs and I helped too, no pics though.  Next time.  :)   We decided to tackle won ton soup, chicken fried rice, and steamed dumplings for our next international cooking together time.   I have made chicken fried rice many times, but the other two are new.  It should be fun!  

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to leave a comment on this post, or for two chances, become a follower  and leave a comment on this post for your chance to win some lovely Valentine fabric flowers from me.  I will   announce one winner next Sunday.  You have until Saturday the 28th of January at midnight to leave your comment.  

I wish you a joyful and creative week ~ Pam