Sunshine and Sippy Cups

“You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they’re going.” – P. J. O’Rourke… Kids grow. And they grow quick. Which means that every time I go to get Abby dressed in the morning, I swear to you that she’s outgrow her clothes overnight. So I’ve found a super smart – and super stylish! – solution to this challenge – Buti-Bag makes it simple to DIY your kiddos outgrown clothes into new fashions that they can wear again. It’s an affordable solution that’s simple and so cute. Keep reading to see how it works, and how it can solve more than one type of kids clothing challenge.

How to DIY Kids Fashions – Even if you’re not the crafty type

You might remember the Buti-Bag brand from another smart solution that I shared with you guys a couple of months ago. The Bunvelope is a totally modern diaper and wipes holder, that easily transitions to life after baby as a cosmetics bag for you. One of my fave pieces of baby gear. She’s got other super smart products too – All totally chic, designed by a real mom who understands what we really need in our gear, and all made right here in the US. Today, I’ll show you more about the Belle Bottoms, a totally genius idea. These super cute iron-on designs can be used in so many ways –

• When you did your back to school review of the kids clothes, I’m sure that a ton of you mommas learned that while your kiddo’s pants still fit on the waist, they’ve grown a ton since last fall, and most of them are now too short. You hate to throw out pants that are in good shape, right? Adding Belle Bottoms is a great way to add some extra length!
• How about the pants that still fit, but are frayed and worn around the bottoms? Yep, this is a great way to cover up that mess.
• Maybe you’ve got the opposite problem, like I do – Abby {my 2 year old} is a chunker. She needs a 4 or 5T pair of jeans to fit around her booty {she got that from me, poor girl…} – but then they are WAY too long. So, I can just cut off all of that excess fabric, and finish them again with the Belle Bottoms. Problem solved.
• These are also a way to just up the fun factor of any kids wardrobe. If you’ve got girls who are bored with yesterdays styles, let them pick out a couple prints of Belle Bottoms to jazz up what they’ve got. Saves a ton versus buying new clothes!
• And… These can fit a ton of different sizes of pants – Including yours. They can be added to most straight leg style denim, and would be really fun on a pair of capris. They’re available in a ton of different prints, and either flat style or ruffled. Love ’em.

So – Ready to see how these work? You can find the full instructions on the Buti-Bag site – Instructions for flat iron-on Belle Bottoms. And I’ll walk you through a quick tutorial on how to add them to any pair of pants, easy peasy.

Enhance Your Pants – DIY Kids Pants Tutorial

When I first got my Belle Bottoms, I admit – I was a little nervous to put them on. You do have to carefully read the instructions, and follow them well, since once you iron these cuties on – they are permanent. But, after reading through the whole instructions twice, to make sure I had it all down – It was super simple to apply ’em. Pinky promise.

1. Gather your supplies all together in one spot – Belle Bottoms, kids pants to makeover, scissors, a pencil, and an iron. Then, either use a seam ripper to open up the seam on the bottom of each pant leg {great if you need to maximize the length} or just cut off that bulky bottom hem.
2. Three edges of each piece of fabric have adhesive strips – you pull off the piece on the short end. Then you take the flat Belle Bottom piece of fabric, and fold it around the pant leg where you want it to go. {Mark this with a pencil.} Use the iron to tack down that seam. Once it’s cooled, you’ll have a little circle of fabric, the same size as the bottom opening of the pants.
3. Flip that circle cuff of fabric inside out, and cut off the excess length that you don’t need. Then remove the adhesive strip that’s around the top – the section that will stick to your pant leg. Flip your Belle Bottom right-side out again.
4. Now, slide your little round fabric cuff back onto the pant leg, so the unfinished pant edge is inside. Line it up with your pencil mark. Now iron that adhesive section to your pants. Once you’ve done this, you’re halfway!
5. Now, flip the whole pair of pants inside out, and remove that last piece of adhesive tape.
6. Fold the Belle Bottom fabric up over the edge of the pant seam – making them the length you prefer. Use your hot iron to tack that seam down too. And, you can go ahead and give the whole pair of pants a quick iron if you’d like, to smooth out any wrinkles you might have caused during the process.
7. Smile – You’re done! Look at that – old pants get a new life, you save money in your clothing budget, and the kids get compliments on their one of a kind fashion statements. Life is good…

Super simple, right? And the instructions that come with the Belle Bottoms have more thorough instructions and lots of tips too. If I can do this right the first time – then anyone can. Seriously. {And…. FYI: Keep reading. At the bottom of the post there’s a chance to win a HUGE prize package that includes a set of these sweet Belle Bottoms!}

“The trick is growing up without growing old.” – Casey Stengel

I hate to waste anything. Ever. I’m totally live by the phrase “Use it up, Wear it Out, Make it do…or Do without.” I get that from my grandma, for sure. So when I realized that I had some scrap  of this adorable polka dot fabric left over, I used ’em to make a cute shabby chic style matching headband. I used one of Abby’s fabric covered headbands as the base. I cut the scrap piece of fabric into little strips. I used the little adhesive strips on them to double ’em over and make little loops on each end, and pulled out a few extra strings to give each bare edge a nice little fray. Then I simply tied them together, and attached with hot glue to the head band. Super cute.

Get connected and learn more

You can learn more about Buti-Bag and the rest of her amazing products built for busy moms with style – Check her out on ButiBag.com. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter, to get updates on new products and promotions. {Like the totally amazing sale you missed if you weren’t following her – she just had where the WHOLE site was 40% off. Rockin’.} So follow her and stay tuned for cool stuff like that in the future too!

Click here to enter to WIN this big prize package – Including a set of Belle Bottoms!

{Disclaimer: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mompact and received a promotional item to thank me for my participation. Only the best products make it onto this site, and my opinions are always as true as can be. All photos and opinions are my own – I think these rock, and know you’ll love ’em too.}