The inspiration behind the JUMBO bowtie

My little boy was and is the biggest surprise of my life. After 2 girls, I was SURPRISED to be pregnant again. And our little man decided to be modest during his ultra sounds. We assumed we would have another girl. Girls out number boys on my hubby's side and mine. December 1, 2007 came and he entered this world with no crying or fuss. We named him Charlie. My maiden name is Chambers and that became his middle name. We chose Chambers, to name him after my Dad. There had already been several Kevin Jr's and Charlie Chambers has a nice ring to it.

I now had a baby boy and he MUST have accessories, so I worked on creating a small tie out of

a pattern for larger boys. Dr. Kevin Chambers played a professor well and took every opportunity to wear bow ties. So of course, his name sake needed one too! That is how the kellybowbelly JUMBO bow tie was born.

I'm glad Dad got to see my creation

before he died. At the age of 57 (Charlie was 1.5 yrs), Poppa died when his plane crashed on the Utah/Idaho border. That was 2 years ago to this day. We miss him lots and are grateful for the time we had with him. As a tribute, all the grandsons (the noble few) wore bow ties to the funeral.

A Green Wedding

Henry (2) and Sam (6) are modeling 'kellybowbelly' bowties. These boys were in their aunts wedding that had a "green" theme. Isn't that cool? Look at the pillow Sam is holding...it looks mossy. Thanks, Kelli, for sending this pic of your cute boys!

Fun Toothbrush Holders

My kids are constantly losing toothbrushes, or breaking the toothbrush holder, or dumping out the toothbrushes and using the holder to dig holes in my back yard. So, I came up with a cute way to hold the tooth brushes.

Here is what you'll need:

• hot glue
• grosgrain ribbon
• buttons
• large push pins or thick magnets

Here is what you do:

1. Line a simple clothespin with ribbon. Just the outside. If you put ribbon on the inside, it won't close as tightly.
2. Glue on a button or a fun "finding" on the side that opens or the middle of the clothespin.
3. Glue a large pushpin or a thick magnet on the back of the clothespin.

The large pushpin or the magnet create enough space between the wall and the clothespin in order for little hands to get a good grip. The pushpin may swivel a bit when you take the toothbrush out. A magnet works well if you decide to put the holder on the mirror. They work better with small toothbrushes than regular sized ones. I get mine at the DOLLAR TREE.

If you make one-please let me know how it works! If you find a better way to fasten them to the wall-let me know! Send pictures!

A How To: wrap ties

My friend, Lauren Willis is having her first baby on February 14Th! It's a boy! So some fine ladies from church set up a shower for her and I got to work on getting some ties for her. Presentation is so much fun-don't you think? It is hard to find a way to present those ties though-in a cute way. They are so small it feels like your giving nothing!

Well, I bought this cute button up

years ago

from Wal-mart. It was on clearance after Easter, and probably cost me

a dollar.

I paired it up with a blue, newborn, necktie (made by yours truly).

I followed these steps:

• Tuck the necktie under the shirt collar.
• Place tissue paper into a small shirt box, pattern side down.
• Fold arms behind the shirt to match the width of the box. Place
• shirt in the box with the bottom out.
• Tuck the bottom of the shirt underneath the rest of the shirt, and tuck in any remaining length of the tie.
• Place a binky clip in the shirt pocket.
• Fold one side of tissue paper over the shirt.
• Place another tie on top of the tissue paper.
• Fold remaining bits of tissue paper nicely into the box.
• Use a strait pin to keep a bow tie in place.
• Place lid on box.

I picked out some

great wrapping paper-%90 off at CVS after Christmas. .29 for the whole roll! I don't think it looks too Christmas-y...do you?

I had this puppy print ribbon and thought it is perfect for a baby boy! I tied it up in a bow and used a strait pin to pin on another bow tie. PERFECT!

SO-When

Lauren and George saw their gift-POP-there is one gift.

They opened it and - POP-another gift, turn the tissue paper-POP-gift number 3, one more turn and BOOOOM, WEEEE, there is the grand finally-a shirt and matching tie. It should fit baby Tristan perfectly right at Easter time!

Congrats Willis Family!

The Hansen (handsome) Kids

The Hansen Family look like they should be in an advertisement for Disneyland. It's amazing that a group this size could get by without producing at least one 'ugly duckling'- I mean, there's always one, right? What is even more amazing is that they are incredibly NICE. That word is a big compliment in my book. Amber (a mother of 4, if you can believe it) dolled up her babies in "kellybowbelly" gear for church. Thanks for the picture!

Christmas Kids

Happy Holidays Everyone!

I didn't get a chance to post these in my shop this year. My dear mother-in-law gets all her grand babies new outfits at Christmas and has their pictures taken. This year, she picked out fabric and had me make skirts. These kiddos looked SO CUTE! The hard part is getting everyone to hold still at the same time!

These 3 are my babies. Left to right are: Libby June (5), Charlie Chambers(2), and Camille Rose(4 on Jan 25Th). These kids are my inspiration. When I was 5, my mom started teaching me to sew. I never thought I would really use it as an adult. But when I got married, we were POOR and I got creative. I began sewing things out of old clothes and clearance fabrics. Everything Mom ever taught about sewing came back to me. Now, I can sew things that I can't find. I get to create the things I imagine and I owe it all to my mom and my sweet babies!

New Argyle Skirts at KBB

I couldn't resist this fabric when I saw it! Libby is my 5 year old and is growing like a weed! Not only is my baby girl growing up too fast for me-but it is HARD to find clothes to fit. She is long and VERY lean. Most clothing that fits her waist-is way, way, way too short. So I sewed up this longer skirt with the hope that although she may get taller-this skirt will be long enough for a while. Click this post title for pricing and to make orders. Arizonians in the east valley are welcome to pick up orders to escape shipping costs...just send me a note.

I made Camille a skirt to match. It doesn't have the swirls on top and has a ribbed waist. These waists stretch forever so this skirt can be worn for years. When they get too short, i just put leggings underneath.

For some reason, Camille likes to make funny faces for all pictures. That's my girl!