Photo Art

If you've seen my Six Golden Coins blog, you have seen one of my newest crafts: photo art! I have been making photo art Christmas gifts this year, and wanted to show them to you. My friend Danielle posted her gift on her blog, and here are some other samples:

If you are interested in having photo art custom-made for you, please let me know. I can do virtually any word you like and then email you a JPEG of the image for your own personal use. All I need is your photos! You can email me through my contact info, or leave me a comment in this post. Thanks!

Quilt

What do you do with a custom-made Katie Kay Tee when your child has outgrown it? Make it into a t-shirt quilt!

I have saved almost every single shirt I made for Katie. My plan was to sew them into a quilt one day, maybe when she turns 18. I mentioned this to her, and she was so excited about it that I wanted figure out a way to make her one now. I asked Grandma, and she agreed to make it for me.

Grandma came over today and we went to Wal-Mart and picked out fabric for the backing, interfacing to iron on the back of the shirts for stabilization, and quilt edging. Then we came home and cut the shirts apart, and I bled on some of the scraps after running the rotary cutter into my finger - ouch! We placed the shirt squares in the order we liked best. It kind of made me sad to know that my baby won't ever wear the shirts again. When we were done, Grandma took everything home and will start sewing and doing all the hard work.

Here's what we have ready so far. I'll post a photo of the completed quilt after Christmas.

EDIT: I'm weak, okay? I am not good at keeping surprises. So I couldn't wait until Christmas. Blame it on Grandma because she finished the quilt so quickly. (It took about four days, y'all! I can't wait to retire...) So here's the finished product, with Grandma and Katie. I LOVE it, and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.

Daddy's Girl

I made Katie a special shirt on Friday, and she wore it today for the first time. Last winter, she had a cute brown shirt with "Daddy's Girl" pre-printed on it. She wanted to wear it again this year, but her arms have grown way too long! So I promised her I'd make her a new one. Here it is, on my sweet girl:

Worth the Wait - Anna Kathryn

I had a rush order that I completed last night after the kids were in bed. It says "Worth the Wait" and could not be more fitting for a little girl named Anna Kathryn. Her parents finally adopted her after waiting two and a half years. (See what I mean?) Her aunt Hillary ordered the onesie for a coming home party in Anna Kathryn's honor next weekend. I'm hoping that Hillary will send me a photo of Anna Kathryn in the onesie, and I can post it here for you soon.

I'm glad the wait is over!

EDIT:

Hillary left me a post on her blog with a photo of Anna Kathryn in her onesie. You can go check out Hillary's blog here, or you can just see the photo below. Isn't she absolutely adorable?! I love it!

Jackson for President

Alright, y'all. I'm tired of hearing all the hoopla over the presidential candidates. I think it's time we elect a true leader. Someone who is strong-willed and won't be pushed around. Someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, and lets his genuine emotions show through. We need a leader who is bipartisan. Someone who is in touch with the next generation of America. Someone who likes to throw bananas and play with Elmo. Someone who loves his mommy better than anyone in the world. I present to you: the next President of the United States!

Sure, he has no voting record. But he's cute, sweet (mostly), and has lots of potential. Vote Jackson for President! (If you want your own presidential t-shirt, leave me a comment and I'll whip one up for you ASAP!)

Contest Winner

My friend Danielle held a contest on her Extraordinary Mommy website, and the prize was a Katie Kay Tee custom shirt. The winner was Preppy Mama, and she asked me to make a shirt for her son's third birthday next month. I just finished it today, and will be mailing it to her this week. Hopefully she'll send me a photo of the birthday boy in his shirt next month, and I'll update this post and add it too. For now, here's the shirt after it was painted:

UPDATE: Here's an early preview of the birthday boy in his shirt!

Steele Butterflies

I completed my first Lupus Walk yesterday after being diagnosed with lupus last week. (It was more of a coincidence that the timing was so close - it wasn't planned that way!) My friend Catrina (who walked with me) and I decided to have shirts made with our team name, Steele Butterflies. Steele is my maiden name, and butterflies are the symbol of the Lupus Foundation. I contacted friends who own Missy Doo's Embroidery, and had them make a rush order for us. They put together these awesome shirts:


I didn't have a shirt made for Dan because I thought the butterflies might be too girly, and I didn't expect him (or the kids) to walk with me. So I made Dan and the kids their own shirts, to show support for our team. They turned out pretty well! Here's the close-up, and a photo of our family in our shirts.

I love the Team Steele shirts. I think I'm going to have the kids wear theirs when I'm having a bad day, as a way to boost my own morale. Is that too self-serving of me? Some days you need all the inspiration you can get!

ONEderful Maclain

I'm behind in posting on my Katie Kay Tees blog! I've been meaning to post a photo of the shirt I made for a friend's son, Maclain. Here it is:

And here's a photo of the lucky guy. Isn't he cute?

Favorite Animal

I made a new shirt for Jackson. I haven't been able to get a decent photo of him wearing it, so for now I'm going to just post a photo of the shirt by itself.

Jackson really likes monkeys, and it's one of the few words he says. (Actually, he only says "Ah ah," like a monkey saying "Ooo ooo ah ah.") We received a hand-me-down shirt and I decorated it with a monkey and the word "monkey." He seems to like it!

Photo Bracelets

My friend Danielle, who owns ExtraordinaryMommy, has encouraged me in so many ways: helping me start two blogs, praising my writing, encouraging me to start selling my onesies and shirts, and now she's telling me to add another treat to my Katie Kay Tees blog. I agree with her, so I'm following her advice (yet again!).

Besides my custom onesies and shirts, I also make custom photo bracelets. I love wearing my photo bracelet, and get lots of compliments on it. Five of the six photos I have in it are of me and my husband and kids, and the other photo is one of me and my sister. I love keeping my loved ones close!

In case any of you are interested, I also sell these custom photo bracelets for $40. You send me six photos by email or snail mail, and I will shrink them and crop them to fit into the frames. I also seal the photos to protect them from moisture before I insert them in the bracelet. (Trust me, if it ain't sealed, you might as well not wear it!)

The bracelets make GREAT presents for Christmas or Mother's Day, and they are an easy idea if your husband is looking for something personalized to buy for you. I've made them for sisters and moms and grandmothers at Christmas, for women who want to remember loved ones who have died, and for new moms who want a sort of "story bracelet" with photos of their baby's ultrasound and birth. You could also give them to the bridesmaids in your wedding.

If you'd like to order a bracelet, just leave a comment letting me know how to contact you. I'll send you all the information separately, and we'll go from there.

100 Buttons - Finished!

I finished the 100 Buttons shirt today. I decided to find some VERY small white buttons (the smallest I could find in my collection), and sew them on in the shape of a "K." I was hoping that the smaller buttons wouldn't weigh the shirt down much more, and I think they worked well! And I chose mostly buttons with only 2 holes (not 4) to make it easier on me for sewing.

Last night while watching TV, I laid the white buttons out in the "K" shape I wanted, then covered them with packing tape to keep them in place. I hand-sewed right through the tape, then carefully tore it off after all the buttons were tacked down. I sewed 56 last night, then put the last 5 on this morning. I think it turned out well!
Katie has already counted the buttons twice to double-check that there are 100. She says she really likes it, and can't wait to wear it!

I think this will be the only 100 Buttons shirt I'll ever make (unless Jackson begs me for one). It was very labor-intense, of course!

My New Nephew

I made two onesies today for my new nephew, baby Jude. He's the son of my brother's widow, who remarried last year. I'm going to mail the onesies Jude and his mom Bonnie and dad John. I'm hoping they'll send me photos of him wearing the onesies too! If so, I'll post them here for you another time.

No Peanuts

My friend Kerry has a three-year-old who is allergic to peanuts. She asked me to customize a shirt for him, to help adults and teachers remember his allergy. Here's what she requested:

I'm honored to be able to use my talents to create a shirt that will help little Jacob be a healthier, happier boy! And potentially help save his life. Thanks for asking me, Kerry!

Uncle Eric

I got a request to make a shirt through Craig's List. The woman asked me to make a shirt that says, "My Uncle Eric is the greatest!" I have no idea what sort of inside joke that's all about, but I made the shirt and I hope she likes it!

RyGuy and WeeMan

My friend Beth asked me to make nickname shirts for her boys. She calls the boys any number of things, but mostly "Ry-Guy" for Ryan. And Ryan calls Liam "Wee Man." Beth found some cute ringer tees at Old Navy, and gave them to me to decorate. I'll post a photo of the boys in their duds if/when I get one!

UPDATE: I got a photo of the boys in their shirts. So cute!

Titus

I got a photo yesterday from the winner of my Bloggy Giveaway, Paula. She sent me a photo of her little boy wearing a special bonus shirt I made for him. Ain't he the cutest?! I just want to squish his cheeks!

Yes, you observed correctly: he isn't wearing a "Tater" shirt, is he? That's because I made him two shirts. I couldn't find an 18 month plain shirt (not a onesie) at four or five different stores I checked. So I made him a red onesie with "Tater" on it (which I'm hoping Paula will send me a photo of later, once he grows in to it). And as an added bonus (and because I had a 12 month regular shirt on hand), I made him a shirt with his real name on it. I added the monkey because Paula says he really likes them. Now she says he runs around with his Titus shirt on, making monkey noises. Yay!

I'm glad Titus/Tater is happy with his shirt!

100 Buttons

I got the idea for Katie's newest shirt by reading two library books about celebrating the 100th day of Kindergarten. Both books had a character who had a shirt with 100 buttons sewn to it. I decided I wanted to make one like that for Katie, because her school celebrates the 100th Day. I pulled out my button collection, and she picked out 100 buttons for me to sew onto her shirt. I bought her three different shirts: red, pink, and white. The sweet girl told me she wanted the red shirt, since it's my favorite color. (!)

This weekend, I started sewing the buttons on the shirt in the shape of a heart. The idea was to complete the heart, then fill it in with the remaining buttons. Well, I finished the heart and only used THIRTY-NINE buttons. Ugh! I don't know if I can do the remaining 61! First of all, that's a lot of work. But more importantly, that's a lot of weight on the shirt. Just the 39 that are already on there make the shirt pretty heavy. I guess I could switch to tiny, lightweight buttons for the remaining 61, or I could just leave it at 39. I also thought about adding buttons to the bottom of the shirt, around the hem. But that will still be heavy.

Does anyone have any ideas of how I can complete the shirt with 100 buttons?

Giveaway Winner

I chose Paula H as the winner of my Katie Kay Tees giveaway. I loved her kid's nickname, Tater. I would love to use my creative talent to make a Tater shirt! Who wouldn't?!

Thanks to everyone for their feedback and encouraging comments. It helped me to know that at least someone thinks I have a smidge of talent! I will take all your words to heart, and ponder them. And I might even be contacting some of you, after I get a grip on my life again. (This Bloggy Giveaway thing is crazy!)

If you would like to contact me to order a shirt, leave a comment in this post. I will give a 20% discount to those of you who posted a comment in my contest. The 20% discount is good for the next week, until 8/8/08. (Don't you just love that date?!)

Thanks again to all of you!

Bloggy Giveaway - Custom Shirt!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

Thanks to my friend Danielle, I am trying a Bloggy Giveaway for the first time. Please be gentle with me!

First, let me reveal what everyone wants to know: the prize! I am giving away a custom shirt or onesie of your choice, made by me of course. I'll contact the winner of my giveaway and you can tell me which design you would like, who it's for, which birthday it's for (if it is for a birthday), what size, color, etc.

Please leave a comment in this post, and here's what I would like from you:
1) Please look at all the entries on my Katie Kay Tees blog and tell me which design you like the best. This doesn't have to be the one you'd pick if you win the giveaway, since maybe your kids are already too old for a onesie or maybe you have all boys but you love the girly stuff.
2) Please also give me any other feedback you can think of, like ways to make my blog or shirts more appealing, or maybe tell me a cute onesie or t-shirt saying that you've seen. I'd especially love to hear cute phrases to celebrate a birthday. (What rhymes with four? I've thought about dino-four. What about six, or any other b'days?)

I'll keep the contest open until noon CST on Friday, August 1.

Please also stop by my original blog, Six Golden Coins. I'm doing another giveaway there for a lovely custom photo bracelet.

Thanks for the feedback, and good luck. Wish me luck too in my first Bloggy Giveaway! (I'm sure hoping I did all this right!)

Customized Shirts & Onesies

I made my first customized onesie when my daughter was about 6 months old. I saw some cute iron-on flowers on clearance at Wal-Mart, and decided to use them to decorate some plain white onesies. The idea was that iron-ons would dress up the white onesies, but I would still be able to bleach them when the inevitable drool or food stained them.

Then I started making customized shirts. It started as something fun that I could do for my daughter. Soon after, I decided to make one for her friend as a birthday gift. I think that was borne out of desperation to find something unique as a birthday gift, and something that would celebrate the birthday girl's sense of style as well as her new Big Girl status of being a whopping three year old. Plus, it was very inexpensive for me because I already had the fabric paint on hand. All I had to do was buy the shirt in the correct size, and I was on my way!

Now I love making shirts for my kids, plus our friends. I've even made one for myself that says "Boy's Mama." It matches my son's shirt that says, "Mama's Boy."
Since those first iron-on onesies, I think I've gotten better at making the shirts fit a child's personality and, at the same time, I've gotten the hang of using puffy paint. I've learned how to sort of grind the paint into the fabric while I'm writing, so the paint won't peel off after the first washing.

Lately, I've had friends start asking me how much I'll charge to make a shirt for them, so I decided to start this blog and see if anyone else might be interested in buying a customized shirt or onesie. If you're interested, let me know by leaving me a comment with your email address. I'll contact you as soon as I can. Thanks for checking out my blog!

One

I got the ONEderful idea for a baby's first birthday when I made this shirt for our friend Jacob's first birthday. (He just turned three and his most recent shirt was the one with all the zoo animals on it here.)

The next one I made was for Cooper, whose daddy LOVES baseball. So it had to have a baseball theme, and most of the ones I've made since then do too. I've also made some girly ones, but I don't have photos to share with you.

EDIT: I got a photo of a girly ONEderful shirt that I made, modeled by our beautiful neighbor! I made the shirt for her first birthday, and was happy to see her wearing it.

Two

I made this shirt for our friend Cooper Doo's second birthday. His mom tells me she gets lots of compliments on it, and people always ask her where she got the shirt. (She's the motivating force behind this blog!) I love the way this shirt turned out. The little boy face actually looks like Cooper Doo in his baseball cap.

This tank top was made for Cooper Doo's sister, Delaney - back when she was turning two. (I can't believe it's been so long ago!)

And this monkey shirt was made for our Cousin Adam when he turned two this year too. (Two too!)

Three

This "Three" shirt was the second shirt I ever made, after the Dude shirt (not including those original iron-on onesies). I made it for Katie's friend Anna, when Katie was about two and a half years old. I made it one night before Katie went to bed, using an iron-on transfer in the center and puffy paint words around it. I put it on a countertop to dry. The next thing I know, I looked over and saw (in slow motion), Katie's hand smashing down into the wet paint. I screamed to stop her, but it was too late. The shirt seemed unsalvageable to me, so I made Anna another one. I kept the ruined one for a while, until I decided to doctor it a bit and I made it wearable for Katie. This photo shows her wearing it. Needless to say, now I make sure the shirts are out of harm's way when I make them!

Since then, I've made the Three shirts with stamps instead of using an iron-on. The iron-ons don't seem very durable.

Four

My favorite Four shirt is the one that says "I'm four and ready to roar" and has a stamped lion on the front. The others are cute too, but I really like the lion.

The monkey one was made for my daughter, who runs and jumps around the house like a monkey. So I tried to make it girly, but also monkey-ish too! She wanted to stamp the smiley face by herself.

Five

I made various "Five" birthday shirts for neighbors and friends, and my own daughter. The blue and orange ones were supposed to be complimentary because they were made for twins on our street.