Challenge 1: Day Four

Day Four was full of crafts and coughs.  As the Great Bettis Sickness of 2012 continues, I feverishly worked on hand-painting t-shirts for the birthday party on Sunday.  Needless to say, I was more focused on the task at hand than on seeking the beauty around me.  However, by the time I drove the girls to Thursday night dance, I finally remembered my trigger of living in the moment.

Fall hits our small town each September, and by this fourth day of October, the leaves glimmer the color of sunset.  I appreciated all that is fall as I drove onto base for dance class.  I wasn’t thinking of my Grande First Birthday List or stressed about making it to class on time (we’re notoriously late…).  No, I was soaking in every breath of cool autumn air as I listened to Whitney’s soft voice sing, “The Wheels on the Bus”.  I was alert with each delicate little murmur, sigh, and giggle that came out of Kennedy.  Now is the time to drink the girls in with all my senses.  My youngest baby turns one on Sunday.  She’s already walking and amazing us daily with her ware-with-all of the world.  If I don’t stop often to live in the moment, I’m really going to lose out on the precious gifts I’ve been given; the gift of my girls’ lives.  I used my drive time efficiently not to plan, plan, plan ahead, but to slow way down to realize the beauty around me.

On to Day Five.

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Easy no-sew Minnie Mouse shirt:

Materials:

·         Plain shirt

·         Card board

·         Black fabric paint

·         16oz plastic cup

·         Medium and small paint brushes

·         Black fabric glitter

·         Fabric puff-paint with fine tip applicator

·         Bow

Optional:

·         Exacto knife

·         Fray Block

Directions:

Step 1.) Use plain t-shirt. I happened to have a hand-me-down onesie, but it had a collar I didn’t care for. Therefore, I used a sharp blade to trim the collar. Then, I Fray Blocked the edges to keep the collar clean-looking.

Step 2.) Placing a piece of cardboard underneath your garment, use a plastic cup (or other item) to create clean, even circles of fabric paint to outline the Mouse ears. Tip: Rotate the cup in the paint and dab onto newspaper to remove excess before placing the circle onto your garment.

Step 3.) Fill in the circles with the same color fabric paint. Tip: First I used a medium size brush to fill in the ears, and then I used a very small, thin brush to clean up the edges.

Step 4.) Sprinkle with black glitter. Shake off any excess. Allow 30 mins. to dry.

Step 5.) If you want an initial, use a fine tip puff paint applicator to draw your letter. Tip: Google Disney alphabet to re-create the recognizable Disney font. Allow 36-48 hours to dry.

Step 6.) Place a bow in the middle of the ears. Use fabric glue or a safety pin to adhere.

Wa-la!