Tutus, revisited - Flower Girl Edition

Back when my blog was just a baby, I made a tutu-onesie outfit for my (soon-to-be) niece.  I adore tutus. They're just so poofy and girly and cute. Fast-forward about a year, and I've made the best decision ever: my flower girls for my wedding are going to wear leotards and tutus. YAY! One of my girls is 4, and the other is almost 3, and they're both little girly girls, so it worked out perfectly!

And, since I'm a control freak crafty, I decided to make the tutus myself (of course!) instead of paying tons of money for someone else to do them.  With that... here they are!

I started with this....

And then, I find it easiest to organize them in bundles of how they'll be used.  That way, I know how I need to organize the ties, and if I have leftover strips, etc.

Final product!

EDIT::
I added a couple strands of ribbon to the tulle, just for some added depth and texture.  I love it.  I couldn't find any wide ribbon in the blue at Walmart today, but if I find some at Joann's this week, I will probably add that too. 

What I haven't decided with them is their baskets... My original thought was to find some straw cowboy hats for them to use as baskets. But I'm not sure how easy that will be for them to carry.  So I might just look into smaller baskets, too. Ideas? 

Toddlers in Tiaras.... or tutus and sports apparel ;)

Sunday was Mr. I.T's niece's birthday, and she's ONE YEAR OLD! wahoo! Along with cake, ice cream, and slightly exhausting super fun birthday parties, come PRESENTS! Now, his sister, her husband, and essentially his entire family (dad, mom, grandparents, etc.) are Cowboys fans.  Blegh. Being a Broncos fan around them is exhausting! Usually, I fight the good fight, but for birthdays, I'll give a little.  I saw the cutest thing on pinterest (of course I did. It's my favorite website in the WHOLE WORLD.) (Seriously. If you're not a member... what are you waiting for?) Anyway. Cutest little thing.  It was a onesie with a broncos logo on it, and a little ponytail holder with a broncos logo on it, and a blue, white, and orange tutu.  Of course, I would have been perfectly content with little niece getting THAT, but knowing her parents... it would never make it's way out of her closet! SO, I got my creative juices flowing, and decided that HEY! I could just change the colors and logo, and make it a Cowboys tutu! And so... I did.  I went to JoAnn's, and bought all this....

And turned it into this!

The best part? On the whole, it only took about 2 hours from start to finish, and the majority of that was cutting the tulle into strips and tying it on the ribbon! I decided to get a ribbon waistband instead of elastic because I was trying to figure out just how much elastic I would need (tricky process, when you don't know EXACTLY how big around baby is) and then... *lightbulb!* Why not tie the tulle onto ribbon, so that the tutu can grow WITH the little one! So, I did.  That tutu should last her at least two football seasons worth of growing.  Of course, the whole family LOVED it.  I can post a tutorial if anyone wants it, but honestly... one of the most straightforward processes I've ever done. I do believe it's one I'll be repeating for the rest of the babies in my life... providing their parents have good taste and like football ;)