Booster Seat Makeover (Costco)

Buying a new car made me realized one thing...our booster seats need serious TLC!

I know sometimes my boys will step on the booster seat (of course with their shoes on!!) to climb over to the back seat or to the trunk area to get something they dropped. I never really paid attention how dirty the booster seat covers were until I was trying to transfer everything from our old minivan to the new one. There were unidentifyable stains everywhere and it was just very nasty looking. Especially in the new car, those car seats looked so out of place.

I washed the seats and disinfected them while I threw the covers in the washer.
Guess what, those covers were still dirty looking even after the wash...

That's when I decided to make booster seat covers! One booster seat is from Costco, and the other one is from Graco. The Costco booster seat cover is just flat and looks very simple to make, and the Graco one is a little bit more work.


I will share what I did...

1. I made patterns first...



2. Cut out the top fabric, batting and backing by using the pattern. This costco one had tabs. I used vinyl (the kind that is used for table cloths and such) to make tabs. Lay the right side of the fabrics and batting together, and insert three tabs in place and pin. Using 1/4" seam allowance sew the one side together.
When you turn it inside out, the tabs will be sewn in.


3. Line up all three edges that are not sewn and flatten the fabric. Sew on the layered fabric to stablize them. I did 4" apart between the lines, this gives a quilt effect.

4. Sew bias tape on all three sides.


5. Make holes with an awl on the tabs and bottom of the cover. When I created the pattern, I also marked them on the paper to make things easier.

6. Done!



I love it! I couldn't use flower print (my boys would refuse to sit on it if I did), but I am happy that I got to use the fabric I already had and it came out better then I expected. I am working on the Graco one now, it is a little more work, but I can't wait to see them side by side in my mini van. :) Oh, before I forget, since I used vinyl for the tabs, I will not be able to put it in the dryer. I just realized this as I was writing this post. So use something else for the tabs, and if you find any better material for that, let me know! :)

Link Party No. 25!

At the beginning of this year, I promised myself that I would not buy fabrics (well, within the reasons...maybe occasionaly...) and use whatever I have on the shelf instead.

So, I was going through my shelf and decided to make another swaddle blanket. I also made a burp cloth with the leftover marterials. I have so many other things on my "To do list" and this was certainly NOT on the list, but when I saw the fabric combinations, I couldn't help but sew it. :)


I have a few other on going projects I will share the pictures when I am finished. :)

I can't believe it is almost October, I love fall but I don't know if I am ready for the busiest months of the year!

I am so excited to see what you got for this week!

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtc9CFJR6Te5CpNgHYGsz2oQcSPEa7ev57prQmm-wO7bU5-IXOUTAJV08BvA-pbdpS2QCr864re5ljtzEGNU20emgmsiG0eSXBf9nArpxdnE1SRy7EGrrnSSMYTt3mS2C3S9d6A8bRk7E/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a><br />

What I Made From a Scarf

I was working on a project last week, which was to use a 42" x 61" scarf to make something. Lots of ideas flooded my mind, and I finally decided to make an outfit for Rachel.

At first I wanted to make a dress, than I thought, instead of making a dress, if I make a blouse and skirt, that will widen the variety of her outfits. And, she can still wear them together to make it look like she is wearing a dress.

I came up with a pattern for the tiered skirt. I had a pattern by “New Look(6882)” and really liked the design, I changed a few things here and there and made the top.

I also made a belt for when she wears them as a dress. I wanted to make the skirt a little bit longer, but I only had 42"X 61" (it was little bit challenging yet fun!). I had no wiggle room.

She can wear this for three seasons; Spring, summer and fall. Depending on what she coordinates with, there are so many ways to enjoy this outfit (Not that Rachel would care that much, yeah, it is mostly for me to have fun).

Here are some combinations that I came up with using stuff that Rachel already has...


Isn't it fun? Rachel loved her new dress and we had a fun time taking pictures. :)

Link Love No. 24!

I am sooo happy today! (well, I am generally a happy person but today, more so). Do you wanna know why...? Because, my garage is finally clean and organized! It was one of the things I wanted to do for a while, but I really needed my husband`s help to move big stuff around. It was definitely not a one person job. We got rid of lots of junk and things are much easier to find.

Ever since the kids` school started, I have wanted to clean and reorganize the house. It was very difficult to find the time to do so during the last couple weeks with all the car problems and driving lot more than usual. Although, I did some organizing, today, I felt like we did a lot.

All my extra time, attention and energy were spent taking care of my house the last few days. That is why you haven't seem much sewing activity going on at Tea Rose Home, but I have finished the project I was working on in my last post, I will share the pictures in my next post. :)

Meanwhile, I have my pics for this week. They were all fun and wonderful, thank you so much for participating everyone!

The first one that caught my eye was this crocheted bag. Isn't it so beautiful?! I love the color combinations and she did such a wonderful job.


Twelve days till Christmas shared this easy and simple idea... Pretend wipes!! How cute is that? I know for sure that my little girl who loves to take care of her baby dolls will love this. Do I hear "Stocking stuffer"?


She did it again... Welcome to the Good Life used her mom's vintage skirt to make this fabulous dress. She is a genius!


Red Gingham made these cute crochet roll and pin cushion. I love love them!


This baby dress was made by {House of Sarager}. They are so pretty, I mean the dress and the baby! Wonderful combinations of fabrics. :)


Again, thank you everyone for your links. I enjoy going through them.
Have a wonderful Sunday; I will see you at the next post!

Link Party No.24!

Hi, Wednesday at Tea Rose Home Link Party is back!

If you have been reading the last few posts, you might know that my progress on any kind of project is very slow, but I just started working on something with Liberty of London fabric. I will post a couple teaser pictures, but I am not going to tell you what I am up to. You simply have to come back to see it. :)

Pretty fabric... I finally have decided what to do with this one.


Started cutting, can you guess what is going to be?


Ok, ladies, I bet you guys are being busy and very anxious to share your finished projects. I am absolutly excited to see them!

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.


<br /><a href="http://tearosehome.blogspot.com"><img border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462799092490427250" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 160px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtc9CFJR6Te5CpNgHYGsz2oQcSPEa7ev57prQmm-wO7bU5-IXOUTAJV08BvA-pbdpS2QCr864re5ljtzEGNU20emgmsiG0eSXBf9nArpxdnE1SRy7EGrrnSSMYTt3mS2C3S9d6A8bRk7E/s200/GrabButtonLinkParty.jpg" /></a><br />

A Little Break for Me

My friend Christie over at A Lemon Squeezy Home is going to have a purse challenge contest on October 4th through the 8th. She asked me to be one of her judges for this challenge and I excitedly accepted it! Please head over to her blog and see all the details and great prizes she has. It will be fun!



Well, you all read about my crazy car situation last week. While we were down to one car I was the full time chauffeur for my family. In the morning I took them to work and school, I have one child that needs to be picked up midday, and the other two at few hours later and my husband at later still and they are two cities away...

It is crazy, but I did it. I did it with a pretty good attitude, because I had something I was looking forward to. Girls weekend getaway!!

My friends and I went to Vegas for the weekend. It was so much fun! When you hear "Vegas" you might think crazy parties, something we need to leave behind...

NOPE, not us! It was lots of shopping, eating, talking and laughing. Very clean healthy fun. :)

Here are some pictures that I took...

Oh...this was so good. More food came after this, but I was busy eating and forgot to take pictures of them.


I love taking picture of architecural designs and such for my design inspirations...(at a buffe, food and culture, two bird and one stone!)


Amy Butlerish(is that even a word?) carpet.


Also, we went to a HUGE swap meat. It was held outside in very hot weather. Near the end I thought I was going to pass out from heat exhaustion. Although, I found some great stuff, and here are my most favorite items.



The purplish pink necklace is all handmade and I bought it for only $5! I love the uniqueness of it, and I know it will be great addition to my fall outfits. I also found a vendor who was selling leathers (in this picture, this brown background you are looking at is the leather). I wanted to buy some leather for quite a while to use for my basket makeovers. I was so excited!! I will be using this leather soon.

It was a great getaway! The funny thing is though, I was never completely "AWAY". I guess once you become a mother, your heart is always attached to your loved ones no matter where you go.

Now I feel rejuvinated and good to go! I am back in to my routine and I rediscovered that I am happiest here with my family and I am such a lucky girl to have a husband who care about me enough that he will let me go for a weekend to take a break. :)

My Long Excuse

Oh, let me tell you what happened to our family this week...

Our minivan was having problems lately (again), last week I took the car in to the dealership, and they told me that it will cost us a little over $700.00. Now, this summer alone we spent over $3000.00 on the car. I was thinking to myself, "REALLY?!! AGAIN?!!" The car is a 2003 model and we bought it new in 2004, but after a while it became nothing but problems. We always take care of our cars, tire rotations, oil changes and all the other maintenance required. It was a BIG lemon. I told them that I will discuss this with my husband and return in a few days.

Well, on Monday, we were supposed to go to this fund raising dinner for a local school marching band. On the way there, the car started doing something weird. The heat level kept rising... We stopped the car on the side of the road, and after a while we started the car. Again, the heat level started rising. We repeated that several times and decided to turn around and go back home. Stop and Go, Stop and Go... and all of a sudden we started seeing smoke coming out from the hood...

After that, my husband and my oldest son (9 years old) got out of the car and started pushing. It was over a mile! Thankfully, some very kind motorcyclists stopped and helped push us home. I am extremely thankful for them!

After we got home, we took the other car and went to the fund-raiser, but we got home a lot later than our original plan, and we were all so exhausted... but we decided not to waste any more money on that car and just buy a new one. We were up late and started doing research on which minivan to buy.

The next day, after my husband got off of work, we went car shopping. We went to a couple car dealers, and by the time we decided to buy, we had a looooong discussion and negotiation process. By the time we got the paper work done, it was after 10:30 P.M.! Again, we were sooo exhausted.

We hope this car will last at least 12 years for us(I am crossing my fingers!). It was a long week, but we are all well and happy.

Long story short, all the above are the reasons (or excuses) for why I don't have any decent posts today. :) I hope you all understand.

Have a happy weekend!

What's Coming Up Soon and My Finished Quilt

CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from coffee table to awesome cookware and home decor. I have been given an opportunity to review one of their products soon, and I am super excited! Keep coming back to see what I am going to review!

Meanwhile, go check out their store to see their thousands of items. There is something for everybody (some early Christmas shopping perhaps?).

I have been quite busy lately, and haven't done much sewing... except, I finished my quilt! For now, whenever an idea pops in my head I keep it in my idea book. They will eventually show up in one of my future posts, I promise! :)

Here are some pictures of my quilt.



The quilt is random and eclectic. What I love about this quilt is that it has cheerful colors and is homie. This will be perfect for the kids to snuggle up with and watch movies.

Well...I guess it is great on grass too. He is happy to try it out.

Link Love No.23!

Before I go on with the link love for this week, I have a small announcement to make. I have so much going on this week, I don't think I will have time to go through all the links from the next link party. I am going to take little "Link party break" this week. If you already had something in mind that you wanted share, I am sorry! Please share it next time.

I will definately do another link party the week after, so make sure to join the party then. :)

Ok, here are the picks for this week...

Untangling Knots shared this wonderful hat she designed for her friend. Isn't it so nice?


I am not a big fan of Halloween decore, but I love this Spider Wreath by Crafts & Sutch! It is not over powering, yet has a character and charm. Great job!


My boys love Star Wars, and I am always looking for great birthday party ideas, I had to pick this! Glue Sticks shared this fantastic cake she created for her little boy.


Mmmm... I love muchrooms. I was just talking with someone saying that I wanted a really good stuffed mushroom recipe and I found this at Mandy's Creative Corner! Were you in the room? My mouth is already watering, I am going to give this a try.


What Allie's Making Now made this dress using a tutorial by Make it and Love it. It turned out so nicely, I would love to make one for me too!


You guys never cease to amaze me with your talents. Thank you for linking up and making this link party possible. Have a blessed week!

My Saturday Afternoon

I had a really busy week, since the kids are back in school, everything is in full swing. Usually it takes time for me to get used to the new routine. I slept in and had a slow start to the day (which is very rare!). By the time I fed kids lunch, I was back to myself, I had an itch to sew.

There was a quilt top I put together a few weeks ago (remember the Liberty of London fabrics?) and I was kept going back and forth should I hand quilt(I am in my comfort zone), or ignore the fear of machine quilting and just try it (which would put me way out of my comfort zone).

Guess what?! I decided to try machine quilting! I have done machine quilting before, but I used straight lines on a much smaller quilt. This time I wanted try "loops". Ok, it doesn't sound difficult to do, but when I think "what if I mess up?" I just didn't have the guts to do it.

For some reason, I felt like I could do it this afternoon. What happend to "What if I mess up?" well, that attitude became... "Nah, it's ok, I have to start somewhere and practice, I will just do my best."

So, I did it! It took me 7 hours(including the time to cook and feed my family a dinner) and like I predicted, it is nowhere near perfect. The loops and stitches are not equal in some areas... but I feel ok! I did it! I hope this is the start of many more machine quilted quilts. I have several quilt tops that are waiting to be quilted, I hope get a chance to practice more and get good at it someday.



I will share the picture of the finished quilt when I am done with the binding. Have a happy Sunday everyone!