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Fancy Nancy – Little Girl Gift Idea

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Have you ordered your Letters to Santa yet?
Check out the post here………and order your own set!
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I love getting new books for the kiddos.  Especially when they’re brand-spankin’-new and have that fresh paper/glue smell to them.  Mmmm.  And it’s secretly my selfish way of getting the little monkeys to come settle down and cozy up in my lap.  What could be better?
So this year for Christmas, I bought both my little girl and boy a few new books each, that I thought they would love.  And then I wanted to make something to accompany their gift of books.
First up?  My little girl.
You’ve probably heard of the Fancy Nancy books
In case you haven’t, this sums her up:
So I purchased a few books (one more on the way) for my little lady.  I just know she’ll love them.
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And to go along with the books, a few gaudy accessories.  
You know, extra shiny, fluffy, and glittery.  Because that’s what Fancy Nancy would wear.
It’s not about a theme with Fancy Nancy.  Or matching.  Or any sort of sense at all.  
Just big, beautiful fanciness.  That’s it.
Books are always a treasure to receive……but adding your own little homemade touch, somehow makes it that more special.  
Go on, add a little something to your child’s favorite book collection.  
(Ideas for my little boy coming up…)
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 What sort of fancy accessories did I make?

Well, I took some inexpensive dress-up shoes….pulled the plastic butterflies off……..
And added some big bows with flowers.  I glued them right down onto the shoes.  (You may need to use epoxy glue if you’re gluing to rubber or slick plastic.)  
Perfectly fancy, right?
Then, I wanted to create some little rings to wear.  So I stitched some thin elastic together into the perfect ring size……..
Then added beads and fanciness to them.  (I hand-stitched everything on and added little bits of glue to hold the things on extra tight.  Just using glue probably won’t keep everything on the rings for very long.)
Next up, a shiny glass bead necklace.  
I’m pretty sure there’s something extra fancy about using glass beads instead of plastic!  
And then I added a chunky bow right at the top.  Done.
Then I created a very simple cape for her to wear.  
I cut out a large rectangle, gathered up the top, sewed it to a strip of ribbon………….
………then added velcro to each end of the ribbon.
And because Fancy Nancy loves accessories, I added some big fluffy flowers to the front of the cape.
Don’t worry, you can still open/close the cape.  
It sure make the perfect cape to wear over ball gowns and pettiskirts.
Oooooh, and of course we needed a bracelet.  A nice frilly one that looks lovely on those dainty wrists.
I took a strip of wide ribbon and sewed a piece of thin elastic onto the back.  But while sewing, I stretched out the elastic as far as it would pull, continued sewing, and then once I let go of the elastic, it gathered the ribbon right in.
Then I sewed the 2 ends together and then sewed the loose ends down.  Then I made a flower out of another color of ribbon (flower tutorial here) and then glued it right over this seam.  That’s it.

 Lastly, a bright and floofy headband.  Or crown of flowers.  Whatever suits her fancy.  
(I just glued a part of a feather boa and some flowers right to a stretchy headband.  Nice and quick.)
And that’s the Fancy Nancy Accessory Collection thus far.  
It can always be added to or altered.  
Especially if she sees something in the book that she’s like to wear.
Just remember that most things can me created from scraps and sparkles that you already have in the house.
Have fun with it.


Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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